Safe as Houses
by River Fox
Summary: COMPLETE...Finally. The gang search for an artefact in a house haunted by a spirit searching for something of its own. Set in season 3.
1. Default Chapter

Safe as Houses 

**Author:** Edith Curtis

**Summary:** The gang search a haunted house for a glowing artefact, a house known for its appetite for slayers. Some character death, some un-death, a little more death, an Oz ouchie and why you should not mention a knights in shining armour in front of an evil house. Set early-mid season 3.

**Disclaimer:** I know nothin'…I own nothing, except for a stuffed camel called Zeus, so it's safe to assume I'm not making any money from this and that the characters and such are some else's property.

**Rating: **PG-13 for attempted not really scary stuff.

**Authors Notes:** Well after 6 years of study, I'm finally finished and thanks to a broken ankle, I finally have chance to get back to writing in prose, as compared to reporting and dot points. However the hiatus has proved problematic and I freely admit this story does not run smoothly and the characterisation is shallow/cliche. However the only way to get back on the writing horse is to write, and I decided to put this out now and get feedback before my computer manages to corrupt all files pertaining to the story again. It was cute when it deleted my ten-page report the day before it was due, but this was just annoying... Though at least I had a hard copy of this story. So anyway I appreciate all comments…with in reason and hope you find some enjoyment.

Chapter 1

"Okay, so it's big…why can't I do this on my own again?" Buffy queried grumpily, looking up at her watcher.

"Because Buffy as I have already told you two slayers in the past have been sent into this place and neither returned. Given the danger I would not normally bother, but at this time it is imperative we retrieve the artefact and I am not letting you go in alone." Giles replied looking up at the debilitated façade of the old mansion.

"So the blue glowy artefact is important then?" Xander asked walking up next to Giles.

Buffy looked at Xander, then turned and looked at the rest of her friends standing behind her, looking back at Giles with a pointed look of what about them.

Giles ignored her look and answered brusquely, "The artefact is supposedly able to stop the gates of hell from opening or in the wrong hands open all the gates of hell simultaneously. Given the recent activity on the Hellmouth, the possibility of the Hellmouth being opened and the information that a clan of yet more doomsday demons are heading this way to retrieve the artefact. It is imperative that we retrieve it and destroy it before they have a chance."

"…So the artefact is important then?" Xander queried again, straight-faced.

Giles turned to Xander to comment, but seeing the smirk starting on the boy's face, he decided against it and instead turned to look at the assembled group. "There really is no need for all of you to join us, Buffy, Angel and I should be capable of doing this on our own. It is far too dangerous really, you should just return to Sunnydale, I'm sure Faith would appreciate the company patrolling."

Willow scrunched her nose at the mention of the other slayer, "We'd rather help here Giles, besides you said the house had lots of magical wards on it, who better to help then little old witchy me."

"Quite true Willow, I suppose…" Giles stopped talking momentarily looking at Oz whom stood next to her and round at Xander and Cordelia who were now standing together, " Eh, I suppose that maybe…maybe we should make our way in."

Giles moved towards the main entrance, lantern in hand, mumbling under his breath.

Cordelia snorted softly, "And he says I lack tact." Seeing her boyfriend was too busy removing gear from the van to be bothered to comment she continued, "I mean great, so the slayer and her ever faithful watcher want to go into the big scary place. Why are we here again? It's not as if we're welcome." She looked over at Giles whom was milling around the main door searching for a clue to entering.

Having lifted all the gear he could possibly carry, Xander slowly walked towards the main door answering as he went, "We're here because Willow and I refused to let our best friend go into a big old scary haunted house that likes to eat slayers, with only a crotchety old man and broody vampire for company."

Looking up at the imposing house, Cordelia remarked softly, "Tell me why I'm here again."

"Something about you wouldn't let me stay alone with two girls overnight in a 'whacked out' mansion, that probably had a sauna and spa." Xander answered, smiling at her reassuringly, though it was mostly hidden in the darkness.

Recovering herself, Cordelia returned, "Yeah well you would probably all get possessed or something, end up running around scantily clad and then having a big sex orgy."

Dropping some of the gear on the door step, Xander scrunched his face up in disgust before looking at her again, "Giles too?"

He received a smile in return indicating at least some of her nerves had been quelled.

The rest of the gang arrived at the doorstep with their share of the gear just in time to hear Giles' comments about American culture revolving around sex and the lack of a bloody key under the plant pot.

"We going to go in anytime soon or are we waiting for you to finish your egg hunt Giles." Buffy asked

"Wild goose chase more like." Giles grumbled, he turned to look at the assembled group on the porch, and explained, "I was hoping to find a spare key around to open the door… if you wouldn't mind assisting." His comment followed with the waving of his hand to indicate the surrounding area.

Buffy groaned and rolled her eyes and moved to the door, while Cordelia made a comment behind her about the inanity of a haunted house needing a key. Sizing up the door and the position of the bolt, Buffy gave one swift kick and the door swung open revealing the main foyer, shrouded in darkness.

Buffy picked up her gear and strode in, turning on her lantern as soon as she had crossed the threshold and dumped the gear in the middle of the foyer, then proceeded to wait for the others.

Angel walked up to the door but stopped before crossing the threshold, "Invitation?" Xander asked from behind him.

"No…this place is giving off very bad vibes." Angel turned to look at the group stood behind him waiting for him to move in, frowning he walked through the door and went to join Buffy.

"I'd say, this place is scarier then the mall after the end of year clearance, what with all the emptiness and the darkness…" Cordelia remarked thoughtfully before turning on Giles, "Why are we here at night? … What was so wrong with daytime?" she asked accusingly.

Giles sighed and looked like he would have taken his glasses off if not for his hands now being full of gear pulled from one of the vehicles. "For one I do not believe Angel would have appreciated it and secondly the house only admits visitors when it is dark."

"Eh and when exactly does it de-admit visitors?" Xander queried curiously from his position at the door.

Pushing past them, Giles mumbled in reply, "It doesn't usually."

Willow frowned, tightening the grip of her free hand on one of Oz's arms and Cordelia gave Xander an icy glare he knew well, it was usually followed by a comment like I'm going to die and I'm never going to be prom queen and its all your fault.

"This is all your fault Harris." Cordelia groused as she walked past him, turning her lantern on as she went.

Giving Willow and Oz a lopsided grin, Xander shrugged his shoulders and followed his girlfriend into the house.

The gang stood assembled in the middle of the foyer, ghastly shadows crept along the edges of the room now lit by the light of numerous lanterns. After another trip to get the rest of the gear from the vehicles parked in the court yard, they were ready to start.

"Angel, Buffy and I are going to take the fuel we brought down to the basement and try and get the generator started, so we can have some electricity and hopefully light, I want the rest of you to stay right here and not move…"

"There's a generator? How did they put a generator in a house that tries to kill people…"

"Are you sure Giles, wouldn't we be best to stay together…"

"That's exactly how it starts in the movies, it's not good, cause hello, I'm a cheerleader I'm so going to get it first…"

"Uh Giles, basement, you said nothing about basements, I really don't like the idea…"

Giles held up his hand in the hopes of stopping the onslaught of comments, "The house didn't start having problems until the mid nineteen forties when more magical wards were added, so yes there is a generator…hopefully the light globes still work. You'll be perfectly safe Willow as long as you stick together and stay here near the entrance. We shan't be long, just stay together and don't move." Giles picked up two of the fuel cans and headed in the direction of a door at the side of the room, he was soon followed by Buffy and Angel each carrying two cans of fuel.

"So what, we just wait around like some faithful dog, cause I don't know about you guys but that is not on my list of talents." Cordelia moved away from Xander and started to look at the statues situated in the foyer.

"I think I can handle that job." Oz remarked, a grin gracing his face, bringing a smile to Willow's face and a smirk from Xander.

Deciding doing something was better than waiting for something to happen, Xander moved to the packs and started to unpack some more lanterns and some emergency packs, in the event they did get separated. Oz moved to help Xander, while Willow went to investigate the perimeter also.

"So which haunted house scenario do you think this situation most emulates?" Xander asked Oz, pulling a small air compressor from a pack before looking at it quizzically and placing it back in the pack.

"Well you've got an old building that tries to kill things associated to its past, it was a Watcher council building and it kills slayers, so maybe House on Haunted Hill…" Looking thoughtful for a few seconds he continued, "It was also a hotel at some point, there may be a little bit of The Shining."

Surprised at Oz's talkative mood, Xander nodded, "Pretty much what I thought, though just that we're not caretakers and we're missing the reformed drunk and the psychic kid."

"Angel is reformed, you could pretend we have a psychic kid." Oz replied glibly.

Xander grinned in response, "Check, don't let Angel near an axe." Seeing Cordelia approaching his side, he turned to her and queried, "Want to be the psychic kid and have visions?"

Cordelia gave her boyfriend a disdainful look, "Don't the father and the ghosts try to kill the kid?"

Xander put his arm around Cordelia's waist. Moving close as he said, "I'll protect you."

Cordelia smirked at him, "My knight in shining armour. You think you can tear yourself away from Buffy for long enough to save me?" The comment was said in good nature, but harked back to many a conversation previous.

Xander looked her in the eyes, an unspoken comment made between the two of them, before he returned seriously, "Always."

Cordelia gave Xander a quick kiss on the lips before walking off again; a barely visible plaque on the wall had gained her attention.

Oz quirked an eyebrow at Xander when he had gained his attention, but the left the question unanswered, satisfied at Xander's mouthed 'long story'.

"What did Giles say that artefact looked like again?" Willow queried from behind Xander.

Xander turned around as Oz answered her, "Small, blue, glowing."

"Kind of like that?" Willow asked excitedly, pointing at a glowing object in an adjoining room, moving towards it slowly.

Cordelia moved up beside Oz to get a better look,  "Ok that was so not there two minutes ago." Her remark was snippy, but it held a nervous edge.

"Hey Willow maybe you should move away from it?" Oz questioned Willow with the most emotion in his voice that anyone there had ever heard.

"Yeah Will, remember Giles' warning, stay in the foyer…you don't want detention do you?" Xander remarked, nervous at her insistence to move toward the object. He started to move towards her in the hopes of stopping her if she tried to go for it; mysterious appearing objects were not to be trusted.

"Yes…No" Willow pouted at Xander when she realised what he had asked, "But if we get it now we can just leave, no scary stuff." Resolved in her task, Willow hastily moved in to the room, ignoring the three loud and spontaneous 'NO' from behind her.

Being the closest to Willow's position, Xander was the only one able to enter the room after her, before the door slammed behind him, blocking out Oz and Cordelia. Turning around immediately Xander tried to reopen the door, but it refused to budge. He turned around to make sure Willow was still in the room, the only light now was that from her lantern as the blue glow had disappeared. He could make out her worried expression even with the shadows now covering most of her face.

"Oops." Her voice was scratchy with fear, but she did not sound like she was about to break down anytime soon.

"The door won't open." Was Xander's only response, there was no anger or accusation in his voice, just worry.

Willow walked up to him and tried the doorknob; the knob turned easily and the door swung open. Instead of the foyer they were presented with what looked like a bedroom, as deduced by the large four-posted bed, barely visible in the middle of the room.

"And the game begins." Xander commented quietly as he apprehensively stepped into the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 

"Oh great, leave us to deal with an angry Giles." Cordelia commented loudly, throwing her arms up in frustration.

After numerous attempts to get the door open, Oz finally managed to get the door to open, only to reveal an empty room. 

"It seems different." Oz remarked shining his lantern into the room, it looked like a kitchen; the other room looked like a sitting room.

"You mean other then the complete lack or our stupider halves." Cordelia remarked somewhat bitterly.

Ignoring the insult to his girlfriend, realising Cordelia was probably more worried then she was willing to admit, he calmly explained, "The room they entered looked like a sitting room, this is a kitchen."

Cordelia looked through the door for herself, scrunching her nose at the slightly mouldy odour that drifted from the room.

Giles was ascending the basement stairs with a sullen Buffy and somewhat agitated Angel in tow, when he heard Cordelia's raised voice from the foyer, catching something about an angry Giles. Worried what the damn fool children had done this time, he hastened his speed and quickly entered the foyer, instantly noting the lack of Willow and Xander's presence. On the other side of the room he could see Cordelia and Oz peering into an adjoining room and could hear Cordelia comment on the olfactory nature of said room.

"What do I have to be angry about?" His voice was not loud, but Giles' question was loud enough to make Cordelia jump screaming and Oz to turn quickly.

"Scary much, gees, was that totally necessary, heart attacks are so not good for my complexion." Cordelia snapped at Giles, though she moved closer to him, feeling more settled by his presence.

Before Giles could ask the next question, Buffy who had followed more slowly back to the foyer interceded before Cordelia could get started on a rant, " Um guys, where's Willow and Xander?"

All eyes went to Oz as he calmly replied, "That would be the anger issue."

Buffy looked at Cordelia questionably, to which Cordelia simply explained, "They went into a room and disappeared."

"They WHAT!" Giles' exclamation causing both Buffy and Cordelia to flinch.

"Oh yeah he's angry." Buffy looked at her Watcher worriedly, hoping he was not about to explode…literally.

Ignoring the comment he started to pace in thought, " Which part of do not move from the foyer was so hard for those two to understand…" Stopping the rhetorical question and the pacing before he started to ramble needlessly, Giles pointed to the room behind Oz. "Was it that room?"

Oz gave a single nod and moved out of the way to allow Giles access.

Buffy turned to look at Angel whom had yet to say a word and noticed he looked agitated, she was stopped from querying his behaviour by Giles' comment on the room being a kitchen. Buffy instead turned to Cordelia and jokingly queried, "Let me guess, Xander's stomach overrode his common sense again." Upon receiving a dark look from Cordelia, instead of the expected confirmation, Buffy looked to Oz instead. 

"It wasn't a kitchen originally." Oz explained briefly, not giving any more information then necessary.

"Willow thought she saw the artefact we are looking for in there and went to get it. Xander tried to stop her." Cordelia remarked coolly, ensuring Buffy made a quick mental note to not insult Xander unnecessarily in front of Cordelia.

Cordelia then turned to Giles; "I thought you three went to go turn on the generator."

Giles was stood cleaning his glasses in frustration and anger, putting them back on he crisply informed her of the situation. "We did, it will take a few minutes to warm up and then hopefully we should have lights."

"You didn't stay with it to make sure?" Cordelia asked in disbelief.

"There seemed to be little point, if it did not work, non of us are capable of fixing it." Giles responded calmly before moving off to the pile of gear they had brought with them.

Nobody else commented as Giles proceeded to remove objects from the packs that he felt were necessary for them to have when they went looking for the two teenagers and hopefully at the same time the artefact they had come for. His task made slightly easier as someone had already started the process. As Giles started to hand out the packs the lights flickered on, the house coming alive with the buzz of the old light globes.

"Strange." Giles remarked looking up at the lit globe.

"What?" Buffy queried looking up at the ceiling expecting something weird and slayable, not seeing anything she looked back at Giles, "Huh?"

"All the lights are switched on." Oz filled in as Giles just nodded his head to the comment.

"It will draw more fuel, we had better get on our way. We will split into two groups, Buffy you are with Angel, Oz and Cordelia you are with me. Keep a hold onto your lanterns, we do not know how long the lights will last and I have included a map in all the packs. I do not know how useful they will be but they may be of some assistance. Let's concentrate on looking for Willow and Xander first and then deal with finding the artefact. We will meet back in the Games room in say 45 minutes."

Everyone nodded in response before Buffy and Angel headed for the staircase in the foyer that led upstairs, leaving Giles and his group to go through the kitchen.

Xander and Willow were searching the room by the lantern light and finally found another door when the lights flickered on.

"Weird." Xander mumbled opening the door to a hallway, jumping slightly when Willow grabbed one of his hands.

"I guess the generator is working." Willow remarked nervously.

"Yeah, and all the lights are on." Xander responded leading them through the door, pulling the light cord to turn off the light as they walked out the room.

As they stepped into the hallway the door swung shut behind them, the click making both of them jump.

"Great cheap parlour tricks from the slayer eating house." Xander joked nervously looking back around at the closed door.

Willow gripped his hand tighter before frowning at the door, "That whole changing room thing was not cheap."

"No that was creepy." Xander replied, then turned to her smiling and light-heartedly remarked, " What do you say Wills, do we find the others or blow them off and look for the atrium and have a picnic?"

Regaining composure in the situation Willow glared at her friend before dragging him down the hall in the direction of what she hoped was where they could find something that led to the foyer. "Giles is going to be angry, Oz is going to be quiet and I'm never going to hear the end of it from Cordelia."

"So picnic it is then." Xander declared grinning, happy his friend was getting beyond her fear, but the grin fell quickly at Willow's stern look.

"Focus, we need to find the foyer." Willow remarked, hoping they would find it by shear force of will and determination alone, however as they turned the corner they were faced with another corridor, one that seemed to go on forever, only to stop with a wall of darkness.

"Okay its Alice in Wonderland, my mistake, should have picked it sooner, maybe we'll come across a rabbit, a rabid rabbit…Maybe its like A Nightmare on Elm street, use our fears against us." Stopping his pondering, Xander looked back the way they had come, that corridor too seemed to stretch on for infinity only to end in darkness. "Okay yay for the house with the creepy not so cheap parlour tricks, perhaps we should try shouting." 

Willow looked back at him with a thoughtful look, "We could just try a door."

Xander seemed to ponder the idea for a second before striding forward to the closest door, "Let's try both." Pushing the door open he shouted loudly, "Lucy, I'm home."

Despite the situation Willow could not help but giggle, "The house is pre-TV, I don't think it will understand."

"Pity I could disarm it with pithy remarks and cult TV trivia otherwise."

"Or just bore it to death with your comparative of Babylon 5 and Deep Space Nine." Willow rejoined, grinning all the way as she walked to another door.

Xander looked mock offended, "Hey and hey, little miss Pythagoras' theorem has so many practical applications, and besides…" He sniffed, "I only used it once over the summer to assist in the vampire slaying."

"You mean the vampire that asked to be staked after having to listen to you as he was trying to raise from the ground…I don't remember it working correctly though."

"Only cos Oz fell asleep and missed the chance. But otherwise it was a roaring success, in that it was totally not useful and Oz now thinks I'm a huge sci-fi geek and he doesn't talk to me anymore."

"Oz barely talks to anyone, even me."

"Ah ha, must have been all that talk about triangles, that'll learn you."

Willow looked at her friend quizzically, realising she may have actually lost that round she turned and opened the next door, which led to another corridor. Xander looked over her shoulder and snorted in annoyance, then mumbled, "Great."

"Least it has an end." Willow commented quietly.

Shrugging Xander shouted down the corridor, "BUFFY, GILES…COOEE."

Getting no reply, Willow went to shut the door, when she heard a gruff growling sound coming from the end of the corridor they were in. Turning around she could see a shadow moving towards them which was being accompanied by the popping sound of the light globes exploding as the thing moved past them. Her heart rate shot up immediately and her breathing started to come in short gasps, her feet felt glued to the floor and it was not until Xander pushed her through the door with a sharp command of 'move' and then proceeded to drag her down the new corridor did she start moving again and run as fast as she could.

The shadow moved through the door into the new corridor, blowing light globes as it went, slowly but surely catching up to the two running teenagers.

Xander realising they could not outrun the thing, stopped abruptly and tested a door, when it swung open, he half swung, half pushed Willow into the room by the hand he was holding and closed the door, leaving her in the room and him in the corridor. Hoping against hope that whatever it was following them would leave Willow alone and just deal with him. Turning around he could see the wall of darkness approaching and the last thing he heard before the darkness engulfed him was the sound of Willow banging on the door and screaming his name.

To be continued…I really have to stop ending chapters with semi cliff hangers


	3. Chapter 3

Thought for the day – They need to release Brisco County Jnr on DVD. Why? Just because. Chapter 3 

"Okay so what's up? You've been Mr Quiet and Broody ever since we came here." Buffy queried as she stepped off the staircase onto the first floor.

"Nothing." Angel replied succinctly.

"Wow a whole two syllables and here I was thinking you were going to be Mr Monosyllable all night." Buffy retorted, though her voice did not portray anger, something more resembling hurt, which was exemplified when Angel returned the comment with a hurt expression on his face.

"Please Angel tell me what's wrong."

Angel frowned and then looked at her intensely before looking away, seemingly absorbed in the wallpaper design, "It's just this house, it feels wrong and I feel wrong, as though any minute the demon will be in control again…" He turned back to her to gauge her reaction.

Instead of replying immediately she moved closer to him and grabbed his hand in hers, pulling him even closer. "I trust you to protect me." She commented softly, continuing to hold his hand.

Angel gave her a dispirited smile, but squeezed her hand in reply, letting her know how important her trust was. 

"So what do you say we find Willow and Xander first before Giles does, so he can't put the fear of death or detention into them."

Angel smirked, "If I were Xander I would be more afraid of Cordelia."

Buffy smiled at her pseudo-boyfriend, "Oh yeah, scary angry Giles or even scary old house has nothing on a pissed off Cordelia."

They walked in silence for a few minutes walking down the empty seemingly never-ending corridor before Angel spoke up again. "Did you really want to come into this alone?"

Buffy chuckled beside him, "No, I was totally wigged from the get go, but I didn't want the guys to come. I was afraid they would get hurt or something would happen and well big surprise…" She then finished sadly, "I just thought if I came in alone I could be in and out real quick and nobody would be hurt."

"Did you tell them that?" Angel queried further.

"Yeah, more or less, they got the gist of it."

"What did they say?"

"That they didn't care, they had stuck by me this long and they weren't about to abandon me now to some slayer eating house." She smiled at the memory of the meeting the day before, "Well except for Cordelia her reasoning had something to do with preventing a sex orgy or something."

Angel gave a breathy laugh beside her, but jolted to attention when he heard a scream emanating from somewhere in the house. He grimaced as Buffy tightened her grip on his hand almost to the point of breaking, but he knew it was because she had recognised the scream as he had, it was Willow.

Picking the most probable source of the scream they both raced off in that direction.

As soon as Xander closed the door on her, Willow tried to open it again, not willing to leave him out there, however the door had other ideas, remaining steadfastly closed. Hearing the thing in the corridor getting closer, she started to bang on the door calling out to Xander, scared for both herself and him, mostly for him though. The thing quickly reached the door; she could see the darkness through the edges of the door and she held her breath as it passed. There was no sound from Xander, as it kept moving past, the only sound was that of popping light bulbs as it continued down the hallway. She tried the door again but found the effort to be in vain as the door would not open. 

Tentatively putting her ear to the door she called out, "Xander…Are you there?"

Getting no reply she knocked softly on door, there seemed to be something shuffling outside. Putting her ear to the door again she whispered, "Xander?"

Instantly the light in the room went off and something slammed into the door shaking the foundations and causing Willow to reflexively scream in shock. She stumbled backwards in the darkness and kept moving in that direction as it happened again and again. Quickly switching on the lantern she still carried, she moved to the other side of the room looking for a way out. Noticing the window she looked out, it had bars across it and of some concern was the fact that she could just make out in the darkness that she was now on the third floor. She moved quickly around the room searching for a way out as something continued to slam into the door. She came across a narrow door next to a wardrobe and tried the handle, the door swang open to reveal a narrow descending staircase. Looking back at the door she realised it was no longer being hit but instead had started to rattle consistently. She entered the stairway and as soon as she did the rattling at the other door stopped.

"That can't be good." She whispered to herself nervously.

She held the lantern out in front of her, her hand shaking noticeably and she gulped in fear as the staircase door swung shut slowly behind her. Moving down the stairs slowly, she started to wish desperately that Xander had not left her alone and that either Oz or Buffy were there now.  Trying to see how much further she had to go she realised the stairwell was starting to spiral slightly and she still had a fair way to go. The door out of here could not come soon enough, of course then it occurred to her that there may not be a door out of here and she started to hum a tune to stead off her fear, but it came out as off tune noises as her voice started to crack. Moving still downwards she realised the lantern was starting to dim, shaking it to try and get more juice from the batteries did not affect it and it quickly dimmed to nothing. Willow stopped humming and the only sounds in the darkness were her raspy breathing and the sound of her thumping heart in her ears, until a voice started to whisper in her ear and she stopped breathing altogether. When something touched her shoulder however she screamed again.

"Damn which way?" Buffy demanded stopping abruptly.

Buffy and Angel stood at the end of one corridor and looked at their choices as another corridor ran perpendicular to it, stretching to the left and right.

"It could almost be impossible to tell, the house could be shifting as we move." Angel returned morosely.

Buffy was getting agitated and started pacing, she was annoyed at having to stop when one of her friends was in danger, "Come on Will…give us a sign."

Right on cue another scream sounded, both of them turned to the right, then looked at each other to confirm the direction and to query at the uncanny timing before racing off again in the direction of the scream.

Oz stopped and cocked his head to one side, sure he had heard a scream, more specifically Willow's scream, but he could not hear anything else and let it slip as mere imagination. Ahead of him and on the other side of the corridor, Giles and Cordelia walked stopping to check doors along the way, to see if they would open and looking in the rooms from the doorway if they did. Oz continued on his way doing the same thing on his side of the corridor. He could hear that Cordelia had started questioning Giles on the history of the house, something that should have surprised him but somehow did not.

"So this house was built at the turn of the century right, by a bunch of settlers?"

Giles was surprised by the question, but noticed the slight timbre in her voice indicating she was nervous and was trying to occupy herself, so he indulged her curiosity.

"Yes, there was a group of them, it was in 1902, they decided to pool their resources and build a large mansion, a sort of communal home, so the chores and such could be spread among the 12 families and they were less vulnerable as a collective group rather then being spread out over the area. Given the stories back then, they believed they were safer that way." Giles sighed as he recalled the error of that thinking.

"Believed?" Oz queried from across the hallway.

"Yes, as it turned out they were wrong." Giles replied frowning, he looked to Cordelia, who indicated he should continue, "Well they were found by one of the people from a nearby town, all of them slaughtered, the records show no one was left alive."

"Let me guess, the person was from Sunnydale" Cordelia remarked off handily.

"Yes he was actually, he went back and reported to the law there, the incident was investigated but the case remained unsolved and the house lay empty for three years."

"And then it became a hotel?" Oz queried moving along to another door.

"Uh, yes, well more of a half way house for people travelling west. The mayor of Sunnydale decided to use it as a place for people to settle and get everything organised before moving into town, or people could use it as a stop off before moving to the coast."

"Let me guess everyone died and it closed down." Cordelia theorised, a disgusted look on her face, she was walking around in a bonafide death trap.

"Well not everyone, though there were quite a few unexplained disappearances from the place, but that was not what caused it to be closed down. Attitudes changed, cars became more prominent and nobody really saw the need for the place anymore. So the place was sold in 1940 to a wealthy English council" Giles explained looking through the last doorway as they reached the end of the corridor.

"Who?" Cordelia questioned Giles as he started to look over the house schematics.

"The Watcher's Council." Oz replied meeting them at the end of the corridor, as Giles considered which direction to go.

"Huh"

"Indeed." Giles remarked returning to the conversation, "They knew of Sunnydale and thought it would be a good base of operations and well a nice holiday spot."

"What happened?" Cordelia queried morbidly.

"They decided it could double as a vault, but something went wrong when they put the protective wards in and the place was considered uninhabitable."

"What kind of wards, we haven't encountered anything and if they were so bad, I would have thought we'd have by now." Cordelia questioned apprehensively.

Directing them left, Giles answered forebodingly, "Give it time, I'm sure we will."

The other two followed him into the new corridor, Cordelia with a distinctive frown of anxiety and Oz a look of thoughtful speculation. 

To be continued…


	4. Chapter 4

**Thought for the Day** – Stairs when combined with crutches are pure evil.

**Author's notes: **- In the summary I mentioned an Oz ouchie, but failed to mention there are other ouchies, I only mentioned Oz in the summary because I don't think he had a large enough role in the story and thought I could make up for that by mentioning him in the summary…just a small point I felt needed to be said but now wish I had not.

**Chapter 4**

"Miss Rosenberg, a lady after my own heart." 

The pressure moved off of Willow's shoulder after the comment from the disembodied voice, well what she assumed was disembodied, as it was pitch black. Taking a few shuddering breathes after the heart stopping moment she started to peer around her in the dark hoping to see anything, but stopped short when the voice spoke next to her ear.

"And such a pretty name…Willow…a fine name for a Jewish lass. You are Jewish are you not Miss Rosenberg?"

Willow merely nodded in response, which seemed to be enough as the voice continued talking, "I presume it was to honour the trees from whose branches the Israelites used to hang their harps…or was it to honour the weeping willows, whose branches hung in sympathy to the Jews held captive in Babylon?" Before Willow could answer though the voice continued, "Not exactly devout though, you study magic as well." The voice seemed to slightly sing song itself throughout.

"I'm…" But she was again cut off.

"You have the potential, just not the power…You wish for more power don't you, so you can help your friends, make Giles proud. Its what makes you feel needed." It was a statement not a question.

"Huh?" The voice was trying to psych her out, they never did that in the movies, least none she could recall at that moment, though given how scared she was she was not sure if she could remember her own name if it had not just been told to her.

"What if I could give you that power, would you say yes?"

"What power?" She whispered nervously in response.

The voice chuckled slightly, "All the power, all the knowledge of all the magic books you could imagine, all that at your fingertips.  The power of life and death, you could kill instantaneously or bring someone back to life…I bet the slayer would appreciate that would she not." The voice finished coldly, making Willow shiver as her spine tingled.

"I…I'm not interested, no person should have that much power and well you're not exactly the most reputable source." Willow replied with moral conviction, even if her voice was quivering slightly. 

The voice chuckled again, "So is that a no Miss Rosenberg?"

"Where's Xander? Do you have him?" The questions came out automatically, even before she could consider that she may not want to hear the answers.

The voice turned cold and abrupt, "That is no concern of yours. Do you accept my gift?"

"No…Never, especially not from some evil…thing like you." 

In response a cold wind started to blow around her and a shrill whistle started to fill the small confined space, causing Willow to cringe as the sound reverberated through her eardrums. The wind was swirling around her now and the volume of the whistle so loud she put her hands over her ears. She was about to start shouting for help, when it all stopped as quickly as it had started and she stood at the bottom of a narrow spiralling staircase blanketed in light from a now open door, which had a shadow standing in the middle of it.

"Willow?" The shadow asked cautiously in a familiar voice.

Willow shot forward instantly engulfing the person in a hug, "Oh Buffy, thank god, it was horrible, it was dark and there was this voice and it asked questions, it was evil and then this wind and horrible sound, and all that dark and I couldn't find my way and, oh God Xander…" Her eyes widened as she remembered her friend and she took a much needed breath before continuing. "We need to find Xander, there was this cloud of darkness and he pushed me into a room, which annoyed at, cause then I had to use the staircase, but there was this banging and the voice wouldn't tell me if he had him and it got angry and I was so scared, and… How did you find me?"

A stunned Buffy pulled back from the hug to look at her friend, surprised at how much she could say in one breath but also relieved to know she was okay. Willow babble was a good sign in that respect. "I, we…" She indicated to Angel, "We heard you scream and then we could hear this whistling sound from the door, so I just opened it and hey look its Willow. Are you okay?"

Willow gave Angel a weak smile of hello before nodding in response to Buffy's question, "I'm just a little hyped is all…It asked if I wanted something and I said no and it got a little angry I think." Looking around the corridor for anyone else but not seeing anyone she asked, "Is Oz okay? Do you know?"

Buffy looked to Angel first before replying to Willow, "Yeah, we split up at the foyer, he's with Giles, so he's in good hands, though they do have Cordelia for company so he may be a little agitated."

Willow gave her a weak smile at her comment; she was still shaking slightly from what had just happened. "So what are we doing now?"

Buffy looked at her watch, "We still have twenty minutes till we have to meet the others, so I guess we look for Xander."

Willow nodded as Angel added, "We may want to do that while heading in the direction of the meeting place, it may take us that long to find the room."

Buffy gave the vampire a curious look, but nodded in agreement as she took one of Willow's hands in her own as a sign of comfort and followed Angel's lead.

Xander awoke to darkness and the sensation of lying down; he tried to sit up only to find he could not move, so he called out instead hoping one of his friends may hear him. "Hello, anybody there."

"Nobody you wish was here Mr Harris." An unfamiliar voice replied almost instantly.

"Crap." Xander remarked edgily, still trying to move.

"I would not bother trying to get up, I'm afraid I need you immobile."

Xander groaned in response, his only thought why him, he always got the weird ones. Then his memory kicked in as he remembered the corridor, "Where's Willow?"

"Straight to the point you lot…I can assure you she is fine."

"Right and I'm just going to believe that because." Xander replied rather sarcastically considering his position, only now noticing the slight echo his voice produced whenever he spoke and how some of the air from when he spoke rebounded back onto his face, indicating he was in an enclosed space.

"You do not have a choice…"

"I'm just glad I'm not claustrophobic." Xander replied sourly, but the comment went unheeded as the voice went off into its own little spiel.

"Alexander, helper and protector of mankind and well I guess in your case womankind Mr Harris. You do have quite the dilemma and you really don't know who or what you want do you. You are rather like Paris in some ways Mr Harris."

"The love or lights way Mr Voice." The comment coming out more petulant then he intended.

The voice chuckled in response before explaining, "Paris of Ancient Greece, he was made to choose which of the three he considered most beautiful; Hera, Athena or Aphrodite. Though he was bribed with power, wisdom, fame and finally true love, but I wonder could you make that choice. Which do you consider most beautiful? Buffy, Cordelia or maybe Willow.

 Xander scowled from his position, wherever that may be, "What exactly is your point?"

The voice sighed, "I don't have one really, we can put your relationships aside that is not your main focus and in that not mine either. What I have is an offer for you, an offer that will give you what you truly want."

"And what exactly is that oh great Carnac the Magnificent?"

"Power, something you can use to protect your friends with, gain acceptance and I guess, impress all the girls."

"Right so you are just going to give me a power, just like that and then what, let me go on my way."

"Of course, all you need to do is say yes to accept the offer."

"What kind of power?" The question reluctant, but Xander needed to know what he was answering to.

"What ever you feel deep down would be most beneficial to help your friends and gain you respect." The last bit said knowingly.

"I have respect thank you very much." Xander spat indignantly, "And quite frankly I think something my father once taught me applies here…well actually my father never taught me much, except for maybe never mix single malt scotch with coke, which may not apply here…unless I consider myself the scotch…in which case you can take your evil soda pop power and shove it up your…"

"I think I get your point Mr Harris and I believe it is a no, but for the sake of clarity please just say no."

"NO." Xander retorted.

"Right…you are a smart young man."

"Your evil, its an easy choice, nothing smart about it."

"What exactly gave me away as evil?" The voice questioned curiously.

"Er, how about you turn on the lights, let me sit up and talk to Willow, then I'll tell you…" Xander remarked sarcastically.

The voice chuckled, "I see your point."

"Of course you would, you're a smart young voice."

"Well I'm afraid time is running on and I have but one final point of business to accomplish."

"And what would that be?" Xander asked, trying to sound bored and succeeding.

"Well Mr Harris I understand you are quite the helpful lad, always helping those in need, and well I have a very important task for you. I rather it not be this way but I'm afraid I'm out of choices. Hopefully in the future I can explain the reasons to you. Do not worry your friends will be here soon, that I will make sure of."

Before Xander could ask the question of what he was supposed to do, he realised he was moving and he could feel a cool liquid surrounding him, as he went to comment his mouth filled with said liquid. He tried to cough it out only to have it replaced by more, he tried to move again but his body refused to answer the brains request. His final thought before darkness claimed him; Cordelia was going to kill him for getting himself into trouble again.

To be continued…maybe. Do you say yes to that offer?


	5. Chapter 5

**Thought for the Day – Are there justice demons for poor performing sports teams? Cause if there is, I wish the Zimbabwe cricket team would win at least one game against the Australian cricket team this summer.**

**Chapter 5**

Cordelia looked over Giles' shoulder into the room whose door Giles had just opened, snorting in a lady like way at what she saw. "Well congratulations Giles I believe you found the Games room after all."

Giles just sighed and closed the door; he had no idea what things like that were doing in the closet of a Watcher's Council property. Turning around to the two teenagers, he put his hand out indicating to Oz he needed the map back.

"Wards?" Oz asked casually.

"Wards." Giles replied solemnly. "Though this spell seems to be far stronger then I thought possible, normally this spell is to merely disorientate; this seems far more malicious."

"So what you're saying is this is far beyond your expectations and you've been taken by surprise…again." Cordelia announced offhandedly, while looking over his shoulder at the map not noticing the dark look that crossed the Watcher's face at her comment.

She then stepped back and slipped her heeled shoes off in annoyance, "Is this going to take much longer? These shoes are doing nothing for my feet…Last time I buy on sale." The last bit said in a mumble.

Instead of commenting Giles looked at his watch, they were already five minutes late for their meeting and they were getting nowhere fast. "I think we best try the blind approach and hope the situation takes mercy on us."

"Huh?" Cordelia queried from her position behind him.

"Look through every door." Oz explained moving to the first door and repeating the process from earlier.

"Oh…" Then when the realisation of more walking hit her, Cordelia groaned, "Oohhh…I hate your lives." 

Smirking, Giles remarked smugly, "Perhaps you should have worn practical shoes." He then headed off down the corridor, fully aware of the scowl directed at his back.

Looking into the room that was obviously a bathroom, Buffy growled in frustration and slammed the door shut, "Okay, not the Games room…and what the hell is a Games room so I know if I have found it or not." She looked over questionably to Angel and Willow who were both looking over the map.

Willow looked up from the map she was regarding with a thoughtful frown, "It's a room where you play games…" She ignored Buffy's resulting glare, and continued quickly, "It will probably have a billiard table in it." Looking back down at the map to escape Buffy's continued death glare, but also figure out where they were, let alone where they were going.

"If we are even on the right floor and that is the bathroom, then the Games room may be five doors down on the left." Angel remarked, nodding his head in the direction he had stated, "However it is possible that the house is moving the rooms, at which point the map is completely useless as Giles said it might be."

"Fine." Buffy answered in frustration and looked up at the ceiling of the corridor, and sweetly asked, "Oh Mr evil house, pray tell where is the Games room you seem so eager to hide?"

In response the fifth door on the left swung open with a slight squeak, announcing its presence. Buffy quirked an eyebrow or at least attempted to, "Me thinks the house is playing with us."

"I have to agree." Angel remarked heading in the direction of the door.

Willow walked over to Buffy's position, "I don't like this, I really don't, that was way to obvious and cliché, most definitely cliché."

"Yeah…" Buffy turned to her friend and sympathetically added, "…But what else are we going to do."

Willow merely nodded and followed her friend to the door.

They entered the room cautiously, the cool humidity assaulting them instantly. The dance of reflected light across the walls of the room indicated they had found the poolroom. "Okay, well again this is not the Games room. Evil house tricked us…and yet I'm surprised." Buffy was distracted from her reverie by a glint in the bottom of the pool having gained her attention.

Angel had already started moving to the side of the pool as Buffy had started talking, there was definitely something at the bottom of the pool. Something felt wrong with the situation, so he explained as he took a closer look at the pool. "The house is obviously rearranging itself to disorientate us. Giles mentioned it may be a possible ward, but it takes a lot of energy though so it can't do it forever, we'll find the Games room eventually…what do you make of that?"

"It looks like a suit of armour." Willow replied from beside him, her voice edgy, waiting for the punch line to this new 'joke'.

"Interesting place to keep it." Buffy remarked from her position next to Willow.

"That's what I…oh damn." Angel threw off his jacket and kicked off his shoes and jumped into the pool, heading for the armour.

Buffy looked at Willow's questioning look and shrugged, "It could be a vampire thing." They both looked back down at the vampire who now sat at the bottom of the pool pulling apart the suit of armour hurriedly.

"Well I have no idea…"The gasp from her friend next to her made Buffy stop and then the appearance of a shirt under the bits of armour Angel was pulling off made it all too apparent. "Oh God." She moved closer to the edge of the pool, kneeling next to it, waiting for her boyfriend to bring her friend to the edge so she could pull him out.

Willow quickly knelt down beside her, tears starting to fill her eyes, "What's he doing? He's got to hurry and bring Xander out of the water."

Buffy placed a hand on one of Willow's shaking ones, "He's got to get some of the weight off Will, we would never be able to pull him out in a full set of armour."

Within seconds Angel started to swim towards the edge of the pool pulling Xander's body behind him. Upon reaching the edge, he lifted Xander out of the icy cold water enabling Buffy and Willow to try and pull him out, even with half the armour removed, it was still a struggle with only Buffy's slayer strength and Angel's vampire strength making it possible. 

Buffy quickly checked to see if he had a pulse, she didn't expect it but felt it was best to make sure. "Willow my CPR is a bit rusty, you up to it." She turned to look at her best female friend who had gone rather pale and now had tears spilling down her cheeks unchecked. "Will?"

"Yeah, I'll do the breathing if one of you will do the compressions, I'll show you where." She quickly moved to Xander's side, checking to make sure his airway was clear before tilting his head back.

Buffy looked at Angel nervously, tears starting in her own eyes, "Do you want me to do it?" Angel asked softly, the only reply was a nod from Buffy. 

Buffy moved backwards, allowing Angel to move up next to Willow, "You put your hands here like this and press down, not to hard or else you'll break his ribcage…" Angel looked at Buffy, the reason for her apprehension apparent to him now, she was afraid of hurting him further. "…It's five compressions for every breath, I'll count them out so you know how fast to go."

Ignoring the ice cold skin off her friend and the very large possibility that he could very well be beyond help, Willow gave her life long friend the first breath and then started to count, "One…two…three…four…five"

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6

**Thought for the Day – **Long live the brown pants…oh and thanks for the reviews. I'm glad to know people are enjoying this and I'll try my best to keep it interesting and not let the story drift into the sea of unfulfilled plots.

**Chapter 6**

Giles, Cordelia and Oz made their way down the long corridor, hoping they would come out somewhere near the entrance of the house, which would lead them to the Games Room. Oz moved along opening doors as he went and quietly listening to Cordelia's endless questions and Giles' reassuring answers.

"What is it with him and Willow, why does he always have to go off and be the hero…"

"They have been friends for many years, I believe they just care deeply for each other as friends and nothing…"

"It was a rhetorical question Giles…I mean its not as if he would do that for me would he, he'd probably just make some witty comment to the thing attacking me about how it can keep me and…"

"Hey guys." Oz had stopped a few doors back and missed Giles' relieved look at the interruption.

At Cordelia and Giles' enquiring looks, Oz pointed at the door in front of him, "I hear the others."

Giles walked up to the door and put his ear to the door, turning to Oz, "I don't hear anything." At Oz's slightly annoyed look he nodded, "Werewolf, of course."

Giles opened the door before Cordelia could say more then "Huh?"

The humidity of the room hit them first and then they noticed the hushed tones coming from the other side of the pool, it was definitely the rest of their group, though they had yet to notice the entrance of the newcomers. They moved around slightly to get a better look at what was going on. The first thing Cordelia noticed was that Angel was straddling her boyfriend and Willow had her mouth on her boyfriend's, but before she could make the embarrassing mistake of accusing Willow of stealing her boyfriend and telling Angel just where he could go, she realised what they were doing. 

Buffy was pulled out of her vigil of the proceedings in front of her by a gasp and an "Oh no" from behind her. She turned to see a worried Giles approaching them followed by Oz who was leading a distraught looking Cordelia.

Quickly standing up, Buffy approached the group, her tears finally spilling over as she rushed towards Giles and hugged him. Responding in turn Giles hugging her back and started rubbing her back in a comforting gesture.

"What happened?" Giles tone was hushed, not wanting to disturb Willow and Angel.

Reining in her emotions, Buffy quietly replied, "We came in here and noticed something in the pool, Angel realised it was Xander and pulled him out."

"How long has he been…" Deciding to avoid using the word dead for the sake of Buffy and Cordelia, Giles rethought the question, "How long has he been unresponsive?"

Buffy looked at Oz and Cordelia before replying, Oz was paying attention to her, but Cordelia was too engrossed in what Angel and Willow were doing. "We don't know, Willow and Angel have only been at it for a few minutes, but before that…we just don't know." She looked down for a few moments before looking back at Giles sadly, "It wouldn't be any longer then half an hour, but…that's long enough."

Giles pulled her back into a hug and watched in morbid fascination as Willow and Angel worked to revive the lifeless corpse of a friend.

They were all shaken from their reverie by the deep intake of air, then the wheezy water filled cough as Xander tried to breath again with his lungs full of water. Coughing the water out of his lungs seemed to drain all his energy, and Xander quickly fell into unconscious due to the lack of energy, but much to the relief of those around him, his heart was beating again, all be it slowly and he was breathing. 

Willow said a silent prayer and fell back into the arms of her boyfriend who had quickly moved to sit behind her, knowing she would be glad for the gesture. 

As Angel moved out of the way, Cordelia knelt next to Xander and started to brush the wet hair away from his forehead that had become plastered there and just glad to touch him and know he was alive, even if he was still cold to the touch.

Angel had started to remove the rest of the armour from Xander's arms and legs with help from Buffy. Buffy noticed Oz's quizzical look as Giles picked up a piece to examine it, "It was a full suit, he was at the bottom of the pool and Angel had to pull some parts off before we could lift him out." 

Giles looked at the armour in disgust, trying to thrust the thought from his mind, of Xander being conscious when he was put in the pool and then unable to move because of the armour.

Standing up Buffy moved towards Giles and grabbed his arm, moving him away from Xander and the others, "Giles I want out and I want out now. I don't care about this stupid artefact, if the bad guys get it, we'll deal with it then, maybe the house will kill them before they have a chance, but I'm not letting this house harm anymore of my friends."

"Buffy…" Giles started in an admonishing tone but was instantly interrupted.

"No, I don't want to hear it, I want out. NOW." Buffy rebuked forcefully, all her fear, worry and anger present in the one statement.

"Buffy, this situation is highly unusual, wards or not, there is no way that the house could possibly have done what it appears to have done. There is more at work here then magical wards and I think it indicates more then ever the need to find what we came here for."

"Giles…" Her initial rebuttal stopped as she tried to consider an alternative, "Is there a way to try and find this thing without having to actually look for it?"

"There may be…I did not want to try it, only as a last resort, but…" Turning around to Willow who was still with Oz, Xander and Cordelia, Giles called her over, "Willow, do you care to try a locator spell?"

Standing up and moving to where the two were stood, she remarked frankly, "I don't have anything on me to do the spell…" She held out her empty hands to prove her point, even her lantern had been left in the stairway.

Opening the satchel he had been carrying Giles pulled out a map, a piece of paper and a few small jars of unmarked powder, "These should assist."

Willow took the things realising as she read the paper that it had the required spell written on it, she nodded before sitting down again setting the map in front of her and opening one of the jars. As she started the chant, Oz, Cordelia and Angel moved closer waiting to see the results. 

After finishing the chant Willow poured one of the jars' contents onto the map, and looked on waiting for the map to reveal the source of any concentrated magic, such as a magical artefact. All were unpleasantly surprised when the powder seemed to liquefy and bubble as it came into contact with the paper, hissing and popping, acting like acid as it burnt through the map, disintegrating it before starting on the floor beneath. Willow gave a small yelp of surprise, quickly standing up and moving away.

"Oh gross. What is that smell?" Cordelia whined moving away and back to Xander still laid near the pool.

"Hydrogen sulphide." Giles replied with a frown.

"What the hell was that?" Buffy queried her nose scrunched in disgust.

"That…was another ward, the reason I was not eager to try that avenue, though it is far more adverse then I believed." Giles answered, his tone weary yet intrigued. 

Deciding enough was enough; Buffy turned on Giles determined in her stand, "Giles, nobody is ever going to find this thing, how about we just leave."

"I agree, that was way to wardy for my liking." Willow remarked still looking at the scorch mark on the floor with disgust. "Remind me to just memorise a guiding light spell next time we're going anywhere near a haunted house."

"As long as we do not separate and stick to groups the house will find it hard to do too much, it would draw too much energy." Giles answered, frustrated with the whole situation.

"That didn't work for Will and Xander, Giles." Buffy retorted.

"Well actually it separated Xander and I…kind of." Willow mentioned softly, but noticing Buffy's glare quickly added, "But it did it really easily." 

"What happened exactly?" Giles queried, curiosity finally getting the better of him, causing Buffy to groan in annoyance.

Looking to Buffy apologetically, Willow explained, "Uh it made this big black shadow thing and it chased us down a corridor for a bit before Xander pushed me into a room and he stayed in the corridor. It waited till I was alone and in this staircase thing and then something or I guess someone started to talk to me and asked me of I wanted more power and I said no and it went all poltergeisty…it was really horrible and evil, let's not forget evil."

"Talk you say…there is no way that could be accomplished with simple wards, that would have required a significantly powerful spell caster and McKinley was no where near that powerful, I don't think any human could be…Buffy…" With his focus on Buffy and Willow, Giles missed Cordelia's interest perk at the mention of the name.

Realising her watcher was not going to rest in this case and would stubbornly argue till they all had a headache she finally acquiesced, "Yeah, yeah, it's imperative and necessary and well you should have thought of that before we left the house cause I warned you all etc., etc., etc. Got you Giles, fine, but I'm doing this under protest and I really think you guys should try and get out and leave it to me."

"I agree…" Giles replied, about to suggest all but he, Buffy and Angel should leave but was interrupted by a now resolute Willow.

"I don't! Fine it's scary and I really want to leave but it will be quicker if we have two groups and we were stupid enough to come here in the first place so if Buffy stays we do…at least until we find the thing." Willow exclaimed, Oz smiling proudly at her from his position next to her.

"All those in favour?" Oz queried before Buffy could dispute the option.

Those stood around raised their hands, some reluctantly, then they turned to Cordelia who was still sat next to Xander, her hand unraised, "What?" 

Quickly realising there was no way out of this Cordelia sighed, "Ugh fine, but I'm doing this under protest also." Looking down at her unconscious boyfriend she added, "What about Xander?"

"I'll carry him." Angel suggested, not expecting the strange looks from the rest of the group and the sceptical one from Cordelia. "Vampire, strong and all." He explained unnerved by the looks.

"Right, good, so I'll go with Angel and the rest…" Buffy started only to be interrupted by Cordelia.

"I'm going with you two, where Xander goes I go."

"Cordelia…" Buffy replied, looking to Giles for help.

Seeing his slayer's look, Giles figured he had better step in, "Cordelia I think it best if you come with us."

"What? Why?" Cordelia queried angrily, looking between the both of them.

"Just for now, you will be safer with Giles, Willow and Oz." Buffy explained realising her argument was really non-existent, only that she and Angel would work better with Cordelia not there, something she could not just tell the proud cheerleader.

Cordelia looked sceptically at the three in question, "I don't see how, besides this is about Xander, not me."

"Yeah but he'll be out of it for a while, by the time we meet up he should be awake and it'll just be easier if it's just us. I promise we will take good care of Xander…right Angel." Buffy looked to the vampire imploringly.

Angel looked at Buffy quizzically, trying to figure what the tone was for, but quickly realised she wanted him to appease Cordelia and probably Willow also, so he looked at the group and stated, "I promise to protect him till we meet up again." 

Looking around Cordelia could see she was not going to win this argument and crossed her arms in frustration, "Fine, but I'm not happy about it."

Buffy walked over to Cordelia and surprised her by giving her a soft hug, whispering in her ear, "Thankyou, I promise we'll bring him back to you." Seeing Cordelia nod in understanding she turned to the other three, "We'll see you in what, three hours Giles."

"Uh yes, that should be sufficient time to have a reasonable search, if we have not found it at that time I believe we will have to try another avenue."

Buffy moved over to Willow to give her a reassuring hug and then walked over to the door behind the group waiting for Angel, who had picked up Xander and was heading back towards the group, "Right so we'll be heading off, Games room three hours."

"Yes and Buffy, Angel…do be careful." 

Angel simply nodded as he passed the group on his way to the door but Buffy called out as she walked through the door, "When am I ever not careful Giles?"

"I would not dignify that question with an answer." Cordelia mumbled after Buffy had left the room and was pleasantly surprised when Willow giggled at the comment.

"Quite." Giles commented before continuing, "Now unless any of you have any questions I think we best be on our way." He bent down to pick up the gear he had put down earlier, not expecting any questions, when Cordelia proved his assumption wrong.

"Um actually." Noticing Willow's surprised look, Cordelia asked an exasperated, "What?" Before turning back to Giles, "When you mentioned McKinley earlier, you didn't by chance mean Michael McKinley."

"Uh yes and as scared as I am of the answer. How pray tell do you know of him?"

"When I was looking around earlier, while Willow was off doing her stupid impression." Her back to Willow, Cordelia did not notice Willow roll her eyes at the comment, "there was this plaque in the foyer with his name on it, kind of like a grave marker, so I was just wondering if he died here."

"Not that I know of, it was never noted by the Council. Did it have any dates?" Giles answered definitely intrigued by the question.

"1911 to 1944." Cordelia replied promptly.

"That was the year they put the artefact and wards in." Oz noted, also curious at the turn of events.

"Ooh poltergeist." Willow commented excitedly, but her excitement was quickly tempered by the strange looks from Giles and Cordelia.

"It would certainly explain some things." Oz added, his expression thoughtful.

"Indeed, it would certainly give rise to some interesting possibilities. I think we had better make our way to the library first, I would like to check the manor diary the Council kept, it may assist with answering some questions." 

"If we can ever find it." Cordelia grumbled sullenly, not liking their odds in the matter.

TBC…


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note – For the course of this chapter I've decided to change my name to Edith Sidebottom in honour of the Widow Twanky. Why? It may be because of the painkillers…

…Sorry about the long wait on this one, hopefully the next chapters should come more regularly.

**Chapter 7**

"Oh, for the love of…" Giles muttered, looking into the room in front of him.

"What is it?" Willow asked, not able to see through the door from her position.

Cordelia looked past Giles and turned to Oz and Willow, "It has a billiard table." Her tone mirthful, almost happy the house was screwing with the Watcher. Her theory being, it served him right for taking Buffy's side.

"Ooh, Games room." Willow remarked, equally cheery, wishing Xander was there to share in the glorious fun that was tormenting Giles, though the thought instantly sobered her into a frown as she remembered what the house had done to Xander.

"I think it's personal Giles." Oz remarked with a straight face that belied his mirth.

"Right, fine, you take the map." Giles crankily responded closing the door and handing the map to Oz.

"So which way?" Cordelia queried Oz cheerily.

"Well according to the map, that should have been the library…" A string of barely legible curses from Giles stopped Oz mid sentence, but quickly stopped when Giles realised they could hear him. "…But the landmarks are changing…we should move away and reorientate, look for the artefact for a while."

They started to move off down the corridor, when Willow stopped abruptly, "Wait a second, I want to check something." She moved back to the door they had just come from and swung the door open, looking inside she quickly turned to the group a grin on her face. 

"What?" Giles asked, annoyed at having to go back to the door, when he looked in he was faced with a different room, one with full bookcases lining the walls. "Oh that's just bloody perfect." 

Cordelia gave a questioning look to Willow, who answered mirthfully, "It was personal."

"Perhaps you should try and be nicer to people Giles." Cordelia remarked as they entered the room.

Giles glared at the young cheerleader before heading for the large wooden desk in the corner of the room, hoping the manor diary had been left in the customary position for such literature. As he approached he could see a large brown leather book on the desk with Barnstead Manor inscribed in gold on the cover. An old quill pen sat next to the book along with a dried up inkpot.

"Well thank god for small favours." Giles mumbled to himself as he sat down on an antique wooden chair and opened the book, ignoring the dust and flicking through the pages looking for the final entry.

Cordelia looked around the room after she had entered but soon moved to one of the two leather lounges situated almost in the middle the room with a large wooden coffee table in between them. Sitting down, she immediately preceded to take off her shoes. Turning one over to look at the sole, she frowned at what she saw and sighed. "Well another perfectly good pair of shoes destroyed thanks to your dorky Scooby Gang adventures…I bet Daphne never got reimbursed either."    

Willow sat down next to Cordelia on the lounge, looking at the shoe in question and saw what looked like crushed glass imbedded into the sole, "It could be a clue."

Cordelia looked at Willow smirking slightly before remarking, "It was the grumpy janitor…this proves it."

Willow smiled in response, "It was actually the old mean Watcher, he used flashing lights as a distraction as he carried out his dastardly plan."

Giles approached the two holding his book open at the last entry, looking also at the shoe as he moved to sit at the lounge across from the two. "Where did you get that?"

"I think it was in the foyer when I found that plaque… cheap tacky glass ruined my shoes."

In trying to appear sympathetic for her loss, Giles failed miserably and quickly sat down and started to relay the most important parts of the entry to those in the room.  "The last person to enter the house before it was considered off limits was a Watcher called Rutherford, he specialised in ancient languages and he was studying some ancient texts on the artefact before he disappeared…"

"Do you have a picture of it?" Willow queried.

Giles flipped back through some of the pages before stopping, "Ahh…Yes here is one, it merely looks like a cut gem, the only difference is the glowing of the object."

Putting the book down on the table, the other two could see a hand drawn picture of an exquisitely cut blue gem; under it in small writing was written Hell's Gate Key.      

"Hell's Gate Key." Willow read out, "Is that its name?"

"Ah yes, but…"

"Well why not call it that then, rather then the lame ass title of 'artefact'?" Cordelia interrupted.

Giles looked slightly embarrassed at the question, "It is something of a superstition in the Council, rather like that of the use of Scottish play in lieu of MacBeth."

"Oops." Willow remarked quietly, realising she had said it out loud.

Cordelia only rolled her eyes in response. 

Oz had stayed near one of the walls lined with bookcases, looking over the titles of books while he listened in on Giles in the background. "You said Rutherford disappeared." Oz queried, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Yes, he was only here for a couple of weeks. His initial report to the Council noted some minor disturbances, his second report however noted some adverse reactions from the house and after that he was not heard from again. The Council is unsure what happened to him. They sent a group to investigate but they barely made it through the front door before calling the mission off because of the danger. The only other people to enter the house after that were the two slayers who were sent here in following years. Both however as you know never returned."             

"So no one knows what happened to them… how horrible." Willow remarked sadly.

Cordelia nodded her head in agreement, her tone contemplative as she commented, "Yeah they could still be somewhere in this house, nothing but decaying corpses."

Before anyone could remark on her comment the fireplace roared into life, distracting their line of thought and causing all of them to turn to the display. In the fireplace the flames jumped from log to log and then stretched into the space above them in a macabre dance, all the while crackling loudly. The display was enough to distract everybody in the room from noticing one of the bookcases swing open silently to reveal a black space behind it. Nor did they notice black tendrils spread out from the space and approach Oz who was stood nearby.

 The young werewolf stood watching the beautiful display in the fireplace, an almost silent "whoa" escaping his lips at the display before he was grabbed by the tendrils and yanked quickly and silently into the dark space, the bookcase swinging shut just as quickly. 

Nobody noticed the disappearance until Willow turned to ask her boyfriend a question and realised he was missing, frantically she turned to Giles, "Giles! Oz."

When consciousness finally came to one Xander Harris it was not exactly slow, but it did take him a full two minutes to realise he was actually awake, though he felt so weak that he decided to keep his eyes shut in the hope he would simply fall asleep and not wake for at least a week. The strange sensation of being carried while some one was walking however made that endeavour hard and the fact that the chill from wet through clothes was making him shiver, he decided to open his eyes and find out exactly what was going on and why he his clothes were wet. Cracking his eyes open he was greeted with the totally unexpected face of Angel looking down at him, obviously alert to the fact Xander was awake.

Realising he was indeed being carried, in Angel's arms, Xander said the first thing that came to his mind, "Was it a church wedding?"

"I could always drop you." Angel replied sounding somewhat serious.

Xander hoped that was a joke. He was starting to feel ill and was so tired if he fell to the floor he was quite sure he would never get up again. "Please don't." 

Xander's request was spoken quietly, causing Angel to look back down at him. It was obvious the boy was still pale and weak, but with wanting his arms free in case of an emergency, Angel posed the question. "Do you think you can walk?"

Xander shook at his head, even that seemed too taxing for him. "Really, no."

"I can help you walk, I would just prefer to have my arms free." Angel commented softly, he may not like the boy much, but he had promised the others to look after him in their absence.

"Besides your probably getting heavy, we've been walking around for like half an hour." Buffy admonished half-heartedly, moving to stand next to Angel. 

Xander would have wondered where she had come from but was too tired to compose the thought, instead he looked across at her, noticing a sad but relieved smile on her face. Something must really be wrong; he suddenly became worried when he remembered everyone else and their obvious lack of presence, nodding slowly at Angel to indicate that he was ready to at least give it a try.

Angel lowered him to his feet, keeping a supporting arm around his back, which was a good thing as Xander's legs gave out almost immediately. Buffy quickly moved to the other side to help keep Xander standing but her height disadvantage hampered her. 

"Are you sure this is a good idea Angel? If anything turns up I'm sure I can deal with it."

Before Angel could comment Xander interrupted, "I'm fine Buff, just need a little…help and if you could find my legs and replace these jelly substitutes that would be great."

"Sorry Xander, we sold your legs on the black market, we made quite a profit though." Buffy replied, trying to lighten the mood.

"Will I see any of that profit or did Cordelia get my cut."

Not knowing what to say to that Buffy and Angel remained silent, unfortunately not realising the effect that might have until Xander frowned and then worriedly asked, "She is okay isn't she and Willow, please tell me they're okay."

"Eh yeah they are, well at least they were when we split up, I, er…Xander do you remember what happened?"

"Um you mean how I managed to get all wet and how I came to be in your acquaintance." He was momentarily distracted by Angel's shirt, noticing for the first time that it too was wet and started to pat at it in some weird parody of someone using a napkin to dry the shirt. Ignoring Angel's surprised look and Buffy's concerned one he continued, "Not a damn thing, I just remember…Are you sure Willow is okay?"

Buffy gave a silent thank god that Xander did not remember being put in the pool and grabbed his hand and held it tightly, "They're all fine Xander, we just had to split up so we could find the artefact quicker, we'll be meeting up with them again soon. I'll do the looking you just concentrate on walking okay?"

Xander nodded slightly then leaned more into Angel for support so Buffy could move away from him. Buffy squeezed his hand before moving in front of them and continuing down the corridor.

Xander looked to Angel wearily, "So how did I get all wet and how did you find me?"

"We found you in the pool."

"I was sleep-swimming?" Xander asked hopefully, already knowing the answer would be something far less funny.

Angel saw the look on the Xander's face knowing he now knew the truth, he merely shook his head confirming the boy's fear, "Willow was the one that brought you back."

Xander nodded morosely, it all made some sense now and a flash of memory of an unknown voice and water caused him to slump slightly in Angel's hold. In response he felt Angel tighten the hold on his waist. Not wanting to miss the chance of annoying the vampire he remarked quietly as they started to follow Buffy, "Just watch where you're putting those hands buddy."

TBC…


	8. Chapter 8

**Comments:** Sorry to those reading this, for the wait on this chapter, I'm afraid with starting work and me Fringing it, the last few weeks, time has escaped me. Alas though my muse reappeared after I went and saw an interesting little comedy show about the history of Pirates, so I say it was all for the good.

This is basically another filler chapter, setting the foundation for the next few chapters where things should hopefully start to come together. This is a bit slow, but I promise the end is in sight and the reasoning for everything will be explained. Though there are a few hints along the way as to what is going on.

**Chapter 8**

Oz stood in the dark, still a little unsure as to how exactly he had got there but seemingly unfazed given the abrupt change in scenery.

"Mr Osborne, I have to say you are very calm and restrained given the situation. The other werewolves I have come across in my time would all have been rather unsociable by now. Then again it may just be possible that you have no control over your transformation and well, do not have a choice but to be calm." A voice rang out in the darkness, its tone almost smug.

"I take it you already know the answer." Oz replied evenly.

"Yes, and well lucky for you I have an offer to make, something that you have yearned for, beneath your calm exterior. I can offer you the power to control your beast. All you need say is yes and it is all yours."

"Some how I think the answer is no."

"And why do you say that Mr Osborne?"

"Because I think that is the answer you want me to give."

"How have you come to that conclusion?"

 "Actions speak louder then words." Oz deadpanned.

There was a chuckle before the voice continued to query, "I am still curious as to what drove you to your conclusion."

"You have done what you can to assure us you are evil…" Pre-empting the voices next question, Oz continued. "You tormented Willow, drowned Xander. It makes anything you offer suspicious, but you already know that. I think that's what you want, so I will say no."

"Interesting hypothesis you have there, I hope for your sake you are correct…" The voice took a timely pause before continuing, "So you are definitely not interested in being able to control your inner wolf."

"Of course I'm interested, but it won't help either of us, so no."

"Very well." With that, light lit up the small room and Oz found himself flying backwards into a surprised Giles, whom had been searching the bookcases for a lever and had barely moved out of the way of the bookcase as it swung open. 

Both crashed to the floor unceremoniously, as both Willow and Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief, "Oz! I was so worried, what happened?" Willow declared rushing to his side.

"Uh, ghost guy grabbed me and dragged me into a room behind the bookcases. We discussed, I answered…he threw me out." Oz replied sardonically, standing up and helping Giles to his feet.

All the occupants of the room seemed to think on what he had said for a few seconds, before all coming to the same conclusion, all of them moving to the nearest couch and helping push it in front of the wall of bookcases.

Cold air blew down the corridor, causing Xander to shiver violently in Angel's hold. Angel looked at him, realising the shaking had not been just from exhaustion, but because his clothes were still wet through.

"We need to get you out of those clothes." Angel remarked before realising his mistake.

"You don't think Buffy will get jealous."

Xander could have sworn he saw Angel smirk before he answered, "We could always let her watch."

If Xander was shocked by the reply he was to fatigued to show it, "You think your soul can handle it."

Surprised by the playful banter, Buffy decided it was better to hurry the two of them up, they still needed to find the games room yet and Xander was not looking any better. "Standing right here you know…Sorry Xander, but we have got to keep moving, we'll find you a blanket or something until we can find the others again."

Buffy was about to turn back around and carry on her way when a sudden smile from 

Angel stopped her in her tracks. If the smile was meant to be reassuring it was not working so well. Angel had been acting weird the last hour or so and he was far to relaxed compared to how he had been when they had entered the house. It could be put down to his reaction to Xander and his comments, but something was putting Buffy's slayer sense on edge and she hoped to god it was just the house and not Angel that was causing it.

Buffy was distracted from her thoughts by Xander calling out to her, " So Buff, do you think we can hurry this up a little, I promise I'll walk faster if it gets me to food and warmth sooner."

Buffy took a good look at her friend; he looked on edge, his earlier unperturbed countenance gone. She hoped he was not sensing something as well.

"I don't know it may still be a while." Seeing her friends features fall at that revelation and Angel's cold countenance prompted her to ask the question, "Angel do you want a break? I can take the 'hold up Xander' duty for a while."

"Do what you have to do Buffy, I can take care of Xander." Angel remarked, his tone continuing to put Buffy on edge, but she smiled to cover up her unease.

"I want to." Buffy reassured Angel.

Xander grinned and with forced chirpiness remarked, "Yeah, we can swap drowning stories." Though seeing her glare, stopped him short and he finished with an,  "Or not."

"You go ahead Angel, it will give me a chance to catch up with Xander and give him a stern talking to for scaring us." Buffy reprimanded, giving Xander another glare.

Xander gave her a goofy grin, sure she was kidding, but the glare remained. "You are kidding, right?"

Buffy gave Xander a smile before turning back to Angel, prompting him for his answer.

Angel grimaced at the two before answering, "Okay, I'll take the lead." 

Buffy moved to Xander's side, putting her arm around his waist to support him as Angel pulled away and started down the corridor on his own.

"Eww, you're all wet." Buffy whined jokingly.

"It's all for you Buff." Xander returned unerringly.

"Okay, again with the eww." Buffy replied grimacing.

Xander chuckled, and then remarked, "Yeah, but you still like me right." 

"I don't know, Cordelia told me you had Twinkie breath. I don't know if I can like somebody with Twinkie breath." Buffy pouted at him, glad to see he was okay after all that happened to him tonight.

Xander suddenly looked nervous, "You guys talk to each other, about me, oh that can't be good."

"It's not that bad Xander." She patted his arm reassuringly, her hand squelching in the sogginess, "I think we should probably make that blanket a priority." 

Seeing Angel had stopped down the corridor, looking impatient as he waited for them to start moving, Buffy called out to him, "Tell us if you find a bedroom, we'll start looking through doors too, the faster we can do this the better."

Angel simply nodded then continued down the corridor, opening doors on his way.

Buffy watched him as he moved down the corridor opening doors, worried about his sudden mood swings. Ignoring the tingling in her slayer sense, she moved with Xander to an as yet unchecked door, opening it to reveal a fully furnished bedroom.

"Again with the games." Buffy grumbled as soon as she realised what the room was. She started to pull her arm from around Xander's waist, but stopped when he grabbed her arm.

"That was way too convenient and an easy way to separate you from us."

Buffy pouted, still smarting from Giles insistence about her safety the last few days, she gave an exasperated response, "Fine we'll all go in."  Turning to look up the corridor for Angel, whom was still walking away, she shouted, "Angel, we need you here…Xander won't let me do my job."

Xander glared at her in a look reminiscent of Giles, making Buffy smirk at him and tighten her grip around his waist in a hug, to show she was not totally disagreeing with his reasons.

Angel strode back towards the two of them, stopping momentarily when he reached them, but then strode into the room without warning. He headed straight for the bed, pulling the top blanket off when he reached it and then headed back towards the door. Ignoring Buffy's look, Angel handed the blanket to Xander before continuing on down the corridor.

Xander unlatched himself from a distracted Buffy's hold so he could shake the blanket, trying to dispel the dust before wrapping it around his shoulders.   Xander then proceeded to wait patiently as Buffy eyed Angel suspiciously as he continued walking down the corridor without them. 

Buffy waited until Angel was out of earshot, before putting her arm around Xander again, pulling him in close, she whispered. "Does he seem like he's acting weird to you?"

"As compared to what? His usual broody and bizarre behaviour." Xander whispered in reply, noting her look though he conceded, "Yeah, he is acting a little off, even for his naturally charming character."

Ignoring the jibe, Buffy whispered anxiously, "Hopefully we can find this thing sooner rather then later, I can't wait to get back with the others."

Xander nodded knowingly, "Tell me about it."

As they started to continue down the corridor to the next door, Xander seemed to think about the last comment, then added. "Of course I'm in for it from Cordy, so maybe not."

Buffy smiled at him before opening the next door, revealing the rest of the group sat on and around an antique leather lounge. They appeared to have been researching and discussing something before the interruption, but all now looked at the two stood in the doorway a little surprised.

Both Buffy and Xander internally voiced a 'this can not be good' before smiling self-consciously at the attention. Both quickly scanned the room, noting its contents, namely lots of bookcases and the oddly placed antique lounge in front of one set of bookcases.

"Hey books…"Buffy remarked, looking around the room, before directing her next comment at Giles, "You Watchers sure have a wacky appreciation for the definition of games."

"I think it's called a library Buff." Xander smirked from his position beside her.

"Fine Mr Fancypants, then you can help Giles research, cause I'm going to pretend it's a games room." Buffy retaliated.

There comments seemed to break the shock in the other group as Willow and Cordelia shot up from their seats to greet them both with hugs.

TBC…


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Deciding to take a well-deserved rest, Xander chose to sit at the lounge while Buffy moved to the fireplace, warming her hands in the radiant warmth. The rest of the group followed, including Angel whom had just entered the room and moved to stand in the area between the lounge and fireplace, leaving Xander to sit at the lounge listening in as the conversation started up again. 

"Okay so you found the library. I thought we were supposed to be searching for the important artefact." Buffy groused at Giles.

"Indeed, but I believe what we found was far more important." Giles replied excitedly, holding up the old leather book with Barnstead Manor printed on it.

"An original print?" Xander inquired, receiving a withering look from Giles for his effort.

Giles turned back to Buffy and explained, "It is the diary kept by the Watchers stationed in this manor and this contains entries made by the Watcher whom was stationed here after the Hell's Gate key was placed in the manor."

Cordelia was heard mumbling, "Now he uses the name." Before Buffy requested the catch up lecture.

"The what exactly?"

"That is the name of the artefact we were sent to retrieve and possibly destroy." Giles clarified before continuing his earlier line of thought. "This Watcher, James Rutherford, states that this man, Michael McKinley…" Giles opened the book to a page revealing a photo, "…Was the man responsible for placing the wards on the house and according to Rutherford when he tried to query the wards with McKinley, he was informed by McKinley's estate that he had disappeared some 2 months previous. The exact time that the wards had been placed on the manor."

"So mojo guy disappeared, what are you thinking?" Buffy queried distracted as she watched Angel who had been standing on the fringes of the group, move closer into the group, positioning himself in the space between Oz and Giles.

"Well according to the diary, Rutherford contacted the Watcher's Council querying the information, but was informed they knew nothing about McKinley's disappearance and assumed given the troubles that perhaps McKinley had gone into hiding."

"So he screwed the Council over and then skipped town?" Xander questioned, summarizing in the process.

"Not quite. Imagine Rutherford's surprise when he found a plaque in the front foyer, the same one Cordelia found earlier, indicating McKinley's death." Giles shut the book and looked at the collected group, a smug look on his face at proving the importance of their find.

The rest of the group stood in silence, thinking on what they had been told. The silence was then broken by Xander who looked to Cordelia and queried sulkily, "You found a plaque and didn't tell me?"  

Cordelia rolled her eyes before responding, "You disappeared."

"Oh, okay." Xander remarked, perking back up immediately, before turning to Giles, "So what happened to Rutherford?"

Willow answered for him, "He disappeared too."

"So McKinley did something to the house, then he died and…" Buffy finally devoted all her attention to the conversation as she started to see what her Watcher was getting at. "Wait, you said the Council didn't know anything about McKinley's disappearance, but somebody knew because they put the plaque there, so this is bad."

"Conspiracy bad. We're thinking bad mojo." Willow confirmed.

"So McKinley died and he's haunting this house and killing people, but where's the motive." Buffy confused.

"This décor." Cordelia stated offhandedly, seeing the looks from the rest of the group, she motioned to the walls with her hands, "Well look at it, it would drive me to kill."

There was a scratchy laugh from Angel, whom snidely remarked, "And you lot would drive anyone to kill." 

Before anyone could query the comment, Oz was flying across the room, before landing on the coffee table in front of the couch where Xander was sat. Oz landed with a groan as the table smashed with the force and his leg was trapped under him at an unnatural angle.

Willow rushed to Oz's side and with help from Xander moved him away from the destroyed table.   

Giles instantly grabbed a lamp off a table behind him and slammed it into the back of a distracted Angel's head, eliciting a growl and causing the vampire to stagger forward a step. Angel turned around, his vampiric features at the forefront and picked the Watcher up by his throat, tightening his grip until Giles could no longer breath. Sensing Buffy moving towards him Angel threw Giles into one of the walls of bookcases, before swiftly turning back to Buffy.

Giles' head connected with a bookcase, causing a shelf to collapse, sending books raining down onto the Watcher, whom was now laid motionless on the floor under a pile of books.

Xander had clambered out of his blanket and off of the couch to help Willow move Oz away from the table. Xander then moved back to the table remnants on the floor, picking up the largest piece of wood he could find. He went to move off with it, when Willow quickly moved up beside him, stopping him with a hand on his arm.

"You can't." Willow implored, her tone shaky.

"I'm not going to kill him Will, just maim. Then you can do that soul spell again."

"Promise?" Her tone fully serious.

"Scout's honour." 

Willow frowned at that answer, making Xander confirm again, "I swear Will."

Willow nodded and moved her hand, allowing Xander to approach the distracted Angel.

Cordelia staggered backwards trying to get out of the way as Angel grabbed Giles and sent him flying into a bookcase. Cordelia stood stock still as Angel then turned to Buffy his face twisted in an evil grin as he started his taunts and grabbed her by her throat. Not sure what to do next, Cordelia turned to Xander for guidance, just in time to see him stop talking to Willow before taking of in the direction of Angel with a piece of broken table. Cordelia watched anxiously, worried Angel would hear him approach, but to her relief Xander managed to hit Angel hard and the follow up blow sending Angel falling to the ground. Seeing Xander eventually lift the wood in a move to impale Angel, Cordelia started to move forward, glad the situation was again in hand.

Then Buffy grabbed Xander's hand, making Cordelia stop in her tracks and watch the discussion between the two, before the situation again took a turn for the worst.

TBC…


	10. Chapter 10

Author's comments:  I'm really unsure about this chapter. While the contents are a necessary plot device, I kind of find the chapter a little over the top and as my beta is AWOL I am left hanging with my uncertainty. 

If you have a strong feeling either way, please let me know, otherwise read and hopefully enjoy.

Oh and by the way I bring your notice to the summary in the 1st chapter, there is some character death and undeath in this story.

**Chapter 10**

Buffy watched Oz fly across the room into the table and stood mildly shocked, but as Angel grabbed Giles around the throat she quickly moved to stop him. Her few seconds of distraction however gave Angel time to throw Giles into a nearby bookcase and then turn to easily deflect her and grab her around the throat lifting her off the ground.

Angel smirked evilly at Buffy, "Bet you didn't expect that lover."

Buffy struggled in his hold, trying to pull his hand away. "I'm glad to see you didn't forget how much I love it when you struggle. Tell me…" A sturdy blow to the back of his head interrupted him, causing him to drop Buffy and fall forward on to his knees. The first blow was followed quickly by a second to the base of the skull, knocking him face first into the floor in front of the fireplace. 

Rubbing her neck, and gulping in breathes, Buffy looked up from where she had fallen on the ground to see an unsteady Xander standing behind Angel, with a part of the coffee table in his hands. He shifted the piece of wood from a clubbing position to a stabbing position and looked at the seemingly unconscious vampire in front of him. While he had decided a gut wound would be sufficient, Buffy did not have the benefit of that knowledge and thought Xander was going for the kill. Jumping from her position on the floor, Buffy grabbed Xander's arm tightly, stopping any further movement and moving his weapon arm away from in front of him, causing him to look at her, surprise and some anger gracing his face.

"I'm not going to kill him Buffy, just…" Before he could finish his defence however, Angel had turned, game face on and thrust forward with a metal poker he had fallen on. Even with the speed and the awkwardness of the feat, the vampires aim was dead true, thrusting the poker through Xander's unguarded chest, pushing it all the way through, breaking bones and tearing organs, before ripping it out again.

"No but I will." Angel growled, a smirk plastered to his face before he got fully to his feet, threw the bloodied poker to the ground and fled the room while everyone was still in too much shock to even attempt stopping him.

The action had been so quick, Buffy barely heard the pained gasp, before events finally caught up with her shock-addled mind and she realised she was being dragged towards the ground by a collapsing Xander. She still held his arm firmly, but the table remnant slipped from his now loose grip clattering to the ground a second before Xander. Buffy forgot to let go of his arm and followed him to the ground. If Xander had any accusations for her they were lost in a bubbling mass of blood, which poured from his mouth as he appeared to try and speak, or just breath, Buffy could not be sure. Her mind started racing, trying to determine what her next action should be, 'help Xander, chase Angel, help Xander, Giles, Giles will know what to do'. Searching the room desperately with her eyes, she saw her Watcher still mostly unconscious after being thrown into the bookcase. Tears were again spilling down her face for the second time that night as she searched for the others, hoping they would know what to do, her mind was racing so fast she started to feel dizzy and it took her a little longer then usual to realise she was staring right at Cordelia. Cordelia just looked as shocked as her and had not moved from her earlier position. Looking for Willow, Buffy found her crouched next to Oz, whom was barely sat up on floor clutching at his leg, any pain he was in however was forgotten as he stared back at her, realisation had already come to him…Buffy was still in denial, but the pained looked on Willow's face, the look of primal grief made Buffy look back at Xander. He was barely holding onto life, his eyes were already glazing over in pain and shock…and very soon death. 

"Xan?" Buffy wanted to say more, but she had apparently forgotten how to talk in the last few seconds. She grabbed his hand tightly in hers, she probably broke a few bones, but it was irrelevant at that point in time.

Cordelia was next to him now, she must have moved quick, at least she did not have to think anymore…Maybe Cordelia would know what to do.

He did not know what was going on, not really, at least if he did know, he was repressing. All he knew was he was in pain, and he was pretty sure he was dying, he could not breath and he was feeling tired. He could feel someone next to him, he wanted to tell them he needed help, but no words would come. He heard their voice, Buffy, she grabbed his hand, tightly; he did not feel the pain as she broke the bones in his hand. A movement next to him and Cordelia was on his other side, clasping his other hand in hers, one hand on his, her other on his chest. Xander seemed to shudder under her, a coughing fit as a last ditch effort to clear his lungs of blood. He tried desperately to say something to her, anything, he just couldn't remember what. It was useless anyway; no words would come only more blood. In was in this futile battle, that his heart finally stopped trying to beat blood that was not returning and his lungs stopped trying to take in air and it was then that he died again for the second time in not more then four hours.

TBC… Since I'm "Miss wants to go camping but is instead stuck at home because of her stupid ankle", the next chapter should hopefully be this long weekend.


	11. Chapter 11

It's kind of funny how long weekends never eventuate.

Now I had planned to finish this story a long time ago. Unfortunately between starting work and then when I moved, the second half of this story apparently did not like my new location and went elsewhere. Hopefully there is not too much of a jarring difference in writing style between this and the first half, but I have had to try and recollect the theme and strings of thought I had going.

Anyhow hope you enjoy and sorry for the long wait.

* * *

Chapter 11

"Of all the bloody..." Giles stumbled to standing, throwing fallen books off of him and swiping at the blood running down his face with his handkerchief usually used for his glasses.

"Buffy..." Giles started to enquire as to her well being, when a distraught Willow interrupted him as she tried to talk to Buffy in between gasping sobs.

"He wasn't going kill him Buffy...Not kill, just maim, so we could give him his soul back...He just wanted to knock him out." Willow then promptly stuck her head into Oz's shoulder letting him hold her tightly as she continued to cry.

Unable to comprehend what she was talking about, Giles looked to Buffy, whom was sat on the floor in front of him, with Cordelia and... "Dear God." He said the words aloud as he thought them. On the floor in between the two girls lay a very dead Xander, blood covering his chest. The two girls still looked to be in shock and Willow was on the verge of incoherence, Oz looked to be his best option for an explanation, though he knew all he needed to know really. Angelus, if they did not have enough troubles as it was.

"Is, is anyone else hurt?"

The only reply to his query was silence, a slight shake of the head from Cordelia, when he looked at Oz, he received a sad look before Oz finally replied. "My leg is broken, but they all seem to be okay...physically."

Not wanting to have deal with his own grief, Giles decided taking charge of the situation and getting them all out of the house before anyone else was killed was his best option. The Hell's Gate Key be damned.

Walking past the scene on the floor, Giles walked to the couch, picked up the discarded blanket and proceeded to rip a few strips off, before walking back to where Buffy and Cordelia were sat. He picked up the long piece of wood from next to Xander and then placed the rest of the blanket over the body. Cordelia looked up at him with red rimmed eyes, she seemed to be waiting for him to say something, he just did not know what. Buffy did not move or even register his presence so he moved off to go help Oz, picking up another piece of table along the way.

* * *

"Willow, I'm going to need you to move so I can reset Oz's leg." Willow did not even seem to register the request.

Oz started to whisper something to her, the words of which Giles could not hear, but he saw Willow shake her head against his shoulder.

"Willow it is imperative that I set his leg, so we can leave here." This time he got a response, but it was her shaking her head again.

Giles was relieved when he saw Cordelia move next to Willow, hoping she may have more luck.

"Willow." The voice was soft and full of hurt, but Cordelia placed her hand on Willow's shoulder, "Come on, let Giles fix Oz up for you."

Willow turned and looked into Cordelia's face, seeing the matching sorrow reflected in her features, she let Oz go and hugged Cordelia, letting the taller girl move her away.

"I am going to reset the leg and then try bracing it with these..." Giles held up the two pieces of wood before continuing. "This will probably hurt significantly but I am afraid it is necessary."

Oz merely nodded in understanding as Giles moved into position. Giles felt along the leg trying to find the break and causing Oz to grimace in pain. Without warning Giles snapped the bone onto place, causing Oz to shout out in pain.

* * *

Oz's cry of pain broke Buffy out of her stupor and she shot to her feet almost instantaneously. Her features showed confusion as she took in her surroundings, the memories of recent events returning to her all to quickly. "Angel..." she remarked remorsefully before her features twisted in anger. Turning to chase after the vampire she was stopped in her tracks by Giles' voice.

"Buffy!"

"Giles I need..." Buffy protested, turning back to look at him and the rest of the group.

"Later Buffy, we need to leave now, and we need you with us." Giles explained softly, directing her attention to Willow and Cordelia.

Buffy looked at her friends, any thoughts about going after Angel instantly gone instead she quickly moved to comfort her friends. Cordelia moved aside to let Buffy hug Willow, "Willow, I'm so sorry."

As Willow started to stifle her crying, Buffy turned back to her watcher, "What now Giles?"

Giles was lifting Oz to his feet with Cordelia's assistance, "We leave Buffy."

"But what about..."

"Key be damned, it can be destroyed another day." Giles replied coarsely, leaving Oz in Cordelia's capable hands as he moved away to start collecting whatever they needed to take with them.

"Why didn't the council just destroy it fifty years ago?" Oz queried, his tone indicating he had been pondering the question for a while.

Giles stopped his efforts, before quietly explaining. "There was much dispute within the council over that very question, quite a few believed the hell's gate key should have been destroyed but the majority ruled that it should be stored and protected in case of future need..." He stopped thoughtful for a second before continuing, "I'm afraid I may have been as gullible in my attempt to destroy the thing as all those other watcher's were determined to retrieve and keep safe the damned artefact."

"Pity you couldn't have figured that out an hour ago." Cordelia remarked, but any venom in the remark was tempered by the sadness in her features.

Buffy and a now mostly composed Willow moved next to Oz and Cordelia, allowing Cordelia to move away and Buffy and Willow take the task of helping Oz, their equal heights making the job easier. "So we just head for the front door." Buffy queried her watcher who seemed finished in his scavenging task.

"That would seem the best plan."

"What about Xander?" Willow queried hoarsely.

"I'm afraid we have no choice but to leave him, there is no way..." Giles stopped not eager to say what needed to be said.

Willow nodded in understanding, "I just need a second."

Making sure Buffy had full support of Oz, Willow quickly moved to the body of her friend, kneeling next to him and pulling the blanket back. Ignoring the unstaring eyes she whispered something in his ear before kissing him on the forehead and then quickly moving back to Buffy and Oz.

Cordelia stood to the side lost in thought as the others prepared to make a move for the way out.

* * *

Angelus was striding through the corridor determined to find the exit such that he could regroup and prepare to terrorise the slayer and her lackeys another day, unfortunately the house was not cooperating. Encountering another dead end the vampire started to growl in frustration as he turned around, only to discover the corridor had closed in behind him. This time he growled in anger, kicking open a door in the wall of the corridor that now represented his only exit, the force shattering the door. Entering the room the light from the hall faintly lit the room showing another door on the other side of the room.

Anger now driving the vampire's determination, he basically stomped across the room only to stop when a voice resounded through the room.

"Angel..." The comment instantly receiving a growl, "Oh my apologies Angelus..." There was a momentary pause before the voice continued, "Ah the Scourge of Europe."

The vampire gave an annoyed grin, not happy to be stopped in his task. "So you've heard of me, one evil to another, my exploits precede me."

"Not really, there's some books in the library about the top 1000 evilest creatures as voted by the Watcher's Council...You came 998." The sprit replied with laconic contempt.

The vampire laughed, thinking the spirit lucky it was incorporeal, "It's only a pity I can't demonstrate my craft first hand on you...As fun as this is not, I have terror to instill and quite frankly you bore me, so how about you let me leave."

Seemingly ignoring the insult, the sprit replied. "But don't you want to hear what I have to offer you."

"Unless it's the slayer hog tied and terrified at my feet, I don't think you could offer anything I want." The vampire replied with contempt of his own.

"So am I to assume you are not interested in having your soul made permanent." The sprit queried innocently as if it could not know the answer.

Angelus stuttered in disbelieving laughter, before remarking, "Hmm, No! No wonder you are dead, you're insane and stupid."

The vampire started to walk off, heading for the other door, stopping only momentarily at the spirit's final comment.

"Your reign will not last long tonight Angelus." The last word a vicious snarl.

TBC...


	12. Chapter 12

Well the story is now entering the final leg and all will soon be revealed, it probably won't be mind blowing or anything and I don't know how predictable the ending is or is not, but I hope there are enough clues being dropped along the way.

* * *

Chapter 12

Giles was following Buffy, Willow as they led a hobbling Oz out of the door when he was stopped by a quiet plea behind him.

"Giles?" The pleading tone made Giles soften his features before turning around to address the young cheerleader, who was yet to move.

"Cordelia I'm sorry, but as I said to Willow there is no way we can." His own tone pleading, hoping she would not fight the decision.

Cordelia simply frowned before nodding; she then turned around and walked to the figure on the floor.

Despite his anxiousness to move, Giles did not begrudge her this final chance, lord knows his decisions had caused enough of tonight's problems already. He watched from the doorway as Cordelia approached Xander's body and knelt by his side. Trying to give her as much privacy as possible, while ensuring she was protected. Though now he had doubts as to what he thought he knew about the situation, looking down at the old diary he realised it definitely needed more investigation.

Giles was pulled from his reverie by an anxious, urgent call from Buffy, whom had backtracked, worried that Giles and Cordelia were taking so long. Giles only turned for a second, he only moved a centimetre as he turned, but that had been enough, the door slamming shut behind him, causing him to stumble forward a few steps towards Buffy.

"Damn." Giles cursed, turning instantly and trying to open the door, unsurprised to find it unmoving, causing him to bang his fists against the door in frustration.

* * *

Cordelia approached Xander and knelt down beside him, the blanket still pulled back from earlier. She stared down at his sightless eyes, before resting her hand on the side of his face, trying to remember what he looked like just a few hours before. She heard Buffy call urgently to Giles, but ignored it, wanting to have these last few moments in peace. Then the door slammed and the lights turned off, plunging the room into darkness, the only light coming from the still flickering fire in the fireplace. Any of her initial fear quickly turned to anger at the interruption.

"Miss Cordelia Chase, what an honour..."

"Go away." Cordelia bit out angrily.

"'So young, my lord, and true'...you have much in common, constantly misunderstood, you both love dearly but won't give fake platitudes. You always tell the truth and you both lost your kingdom for your declarations of truth, but I wonder have you ever told that young man of your true feelings for him."

"Just leave me alone, you've done enough for one night."

"I would love to Miss Chase, in fact the sooner this night is over the better."

Cordelia looked over at the shadowy figure in the corner of the room, she sighed and stood up. "What do you want?"

The figure gave a sad chuckle, "I am afraid the question Miss Chase is, what do you want?"

Looking down at the body of her boyfriend she replied, "I think the answer to that is obvious, even to you."

"Well yes, but I am afraid the answer was given the moment you walked through the front door. I have an offer to make you."

Cordelia scowled at the figure, "What could you offer that I could possibly want?"

"I can give you back your kingdom, make you Queen C of Sunnydale, make all those that once followed you, respect you again. I can offer you your former glory."

Cordelia looked confused, then angry as she processed what was being said, the anger driving her scathing reply. "You! You drown and kill my boyfriend, you torment other people whom I may consider friends. Then you bring back the one nightmare I never wanted to meet again, who kills my boyfriend again and now you stand there. You stand there and have the audacity to try and suggest that after all this that all I could possibly want is some gift of shallowness, just so I can be popular again. Someone I love is dead and all you can offer is that. What kind of person do you take me for."

Cordelia stopped to collect her emotions before finishing. "Go away, I don't know what your malfunction is Michael McKinley but leave me and the rest of my friends out of it."

"Is that a no?"

Cordelia did not reply straight away, instead she knelt down again to move the blanket back over the body. A glint nearby caught her eye, realising it was the poker Angelus dropped she picked it up before standing again and giving her reply.

"Damn right it is Ghost Boy, now let me leave." With that said, Cordelia turned around and stormed towards the door yanking it open and moving outside into the corridor before slamming the door behind her.

"If only I was able to do the same thing Miss Chase."

* * *

Cordelia stormed into the corridor, surprised the door had opened for her. She quickly noticed the rest of the group stopped further up the corridor standing next to some windows, which had not been there when they had gone into the room. They had apparently been waiting for her and had now all turned in her direction when the door had slammed. They looked a little surprised, taking in her angry expression and the fact she was carrying a bloodied poker, but their expressions all quickly turned to ones of relief.

"Cordelia, you are okay." Giles remarked, a smile of relief marking his features and matching that of those stood next to him.

Cordelia gave them a replying smile as she quickly moved towards them, only to have the smile fall short when another voice joined the conversation.

"Not for long watcher."

All eyes turned to Angel who now stood in a doorway, just a few metres away.

* * *

In case you are not sure, yes it is King Lear that is being refered to (the formatting won't let me reference sorry)...I never said I was original.

TBC...


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: **Yay, I finally have had time to update. The story is nearing its end and I am merely editing now, so hopefully the last couple of chapters will be posted in the coming weeks.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the feedback is much appreciated.

Thank you all for reading.

* * *

Chapter 13 

Buffy quickly moved away from Oz and Willow and headed in the direction of Angel's evil doppelganger.

Noting her anger, Angel stood his ground and waited for her to approach, hoping to use her anger against her. Buffy took the last few steps at a sprint, moving in for a speedy knockout, only to have her attacks deflected, before she was slammed into the wall by a well placed swing from Angel.

Hoping to catch the vampire off guard Cordelia had moved around to behind the vampire while he was distracted by Buffy. Moving to within range she swung the poker at his head as hard as she could. The blow however did little to slow him down and Angel quickly turned and ripped the poker from her hand before slamming it into her temple, sending her crashing to the floor in an unconscious heap.

Giles throwing all English etiquette out the window shouted in outrage and jumped onto Angel's back wrapping an arm around the vampire's neck keeping him distracted while Buffy took the front position and laid into him with a quick succession of blows.

"You people are like flies." Angel growled, finding space such that he could kick at Buffy, sending her to the ground dazed and then swinging Giles into a nearby door, which gave way with the impact sending Giles sprawling onto the floor in the joining room.

The lights in the house began to flicker before turning off completely, plunging the house into darkness with only a slight glow sifting in through the windows keeping the hallway lit.

With Buffy busy gathering her wits on the floor of the hallway, Angel noticed Willow and Oz stood alone near a window. Like a true predator Angel charged the exposed and injured pair, while Buffy and Giles were distracted with their own problems. Ignoring Willow, Angel moved in for the kill on Oz but was surprised when Willow attempted to tackle him, sending all three of them off balance. Willow landed next to Angel on the floor, whereas Oz lost his balance on his good leg and stumbled backwards with enough force such that when he hit the window he kept going. Smashing through the window, Oz hit the roof and his momentum caused him to roll down the roof and eventually onto the dirt ground in near the front entrance of the house.

Angel jumped up quickly, growling in frustration. Willow had yet to get up fully and was knelt down cradling her arm she had landed on awkwardly and eyeing the vampire in fear. Angel went for her only to be hit by an invisible force moments before he reached Willow and moments before Buffy made it to their position. The force lifted him off the ground and sent him through the window, following much the same path as Oz before landing on the ground next the unconscious werewolf with a thump.

* * *

Giles stood up in the darkness and tried to orientate himself, heading in the direction that he believed the doorway to be, he impacted with the wall instead. "Damn"

He heard a murmur in the room, like a half hearted laughing.

"Mr Giles...I thought all the Watcher's had the common sense to not enter this house and only send their slayers instead."

"I know who you are." Giles remarked sternly.

"Good for you Mr Giles, I know who you are too." McKinley replied mirthfully.

"I don't care what you know, I don't have time for your games. Angelus is out there."

"He has been dealt with...I also know you are different."

"Different to what?" Giles' anger was only slightly tempered by the revelation about Angel.

"The Watcher's I have dealt with in the past." The spirit's tone lost all mirth and became coldly serious.

"If you are after revenge against the Watcher's Council, hurting the children in this house has done you no service. They are not associated with the Council, they are innocents, merely friends of the slayer."

As if his emotions were on a spinning disk McKinley's coldness quickly evaporated and his tone turned regretful. "I know this Mr Giles and I am sorry for the misfortune that has befallen them, but I'm afraid it was necessary."

"It was necessary for a teenage boy to die." Giles raged in his usual restrained British way.

Unaffected by Giles' anger the spirit calmly explained. "Not at all, that was unplanned for and not my purpose Mr Giles. You need not worry all will be revealed in just time."

* * *

TBC...

Just four chapters to go


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

Author's note: Um…eat healthy and enjoy

Chapter 14

Oz opened his eyes, he could hear Willow calling, but could not see her, only the dark façade of the old house bathed in a pre dawn like soft glow. He tentatively sat up surprised he didn't hurt more. It was then he heard a groan beside him. Looking over he could tell it was Angel, even in the dark. Oz was instantly apprehensive and started to shuffle away, the lack of pain in his leg still not fully registering.

Angel sat up and looked around, his gaze resting on Oz who looked at him wearily. Angel seemed confused momentarily before he quickly remembered where he was.

"Oz it's okay…I'm me." Angel's face showed his sorrow as he quickly stood up and moved to help Oz stand.

Oz continued to watch Angel wearily but was confident that the vampire seemed to be back to normal. Taking Angel's hand when it was offered, Oz let the vampire lift him up.

Oz had his weight on his good leg, but noticed that his broken leg was not hurting. He cautiously moved some weight onto the leg; still not getting any pain he moved more weight before finally resting equally on both legs. He started to bounce on both legs much to the watching Angel's surprise.

Oz cocked his head to one side, a concentrated frown on his face, "It's healed."

"Oh." The vampire replied.

Both thought on the implications of this information both coming to the same conclusion simultaneously. They both moved towards the building directly under the window they had both come from and shouting, "Buffy!"

* * *

Willow quickly moved to window looking out for her boyfriend, while still being cautious of Angel. She was unable to see either as the roof blocked the view of the ground below.

"Oz." She shouted out into the darkness but received no reply. Her despair at losing one of her best friends and now possibly her boyfriend starting to catch up with her.

"Willow…" Buffy started to query as she moved up beside her friend, noticing her holding her arm, "Are you okay?" The question was hesitant, knowing that after the events of the night none of them were okay.

The grave look from Willow confirmed Buffy's need for hesitation and caused the slayer to reiterate her question. "Are you hurt?"

"I…yes…" While answering her friend's question, Willow noticed Cordelia lying on the floor and even in the poorly illuminated hallway she could tell the dark puddle around the young girls head was blood. "But I think Cordelia is worse."

Buffy turned to see what Willow was talking about, seeing Cordelia's condition Buffy quickly moved to Cordelia's side to check her pulse.

"Well she's alive…barely. We need to leave now." Buffy reported to Willow.

Willow started to look around in the darkness for Giles, "Buffy, where's Giles?"

Buffy looked up from her unconscious friend to scan the dark hall for herself before calling out into the darkness. "Giles?"

Giles moved back into the corridor, the recent discussion weighing heavily on his mind. The first thing he saw was Buffy Willow stood near an unconscious Cordelia, whom had blood coming from a what looked like a head wound. Before he could query as to her condition Buffy noticed him.

"Giles! What happened?"

Willow noted his stunned expression, "Are you okay Giles?"

"I'm fine…just a little…Is she okay?" Shaking off his reverie he moved towards Cordelia as he asked about her condition.

Buffy's gaze followed Giles movement as he moved past her to kneel on the floor beside Cordelia. "She has a pulse, but she's out cold and it doesn't look good."

Giles confirmed the diagnosis and sighed in frustration, "How about you two?"

Buffy nodded tiredly, "We're good, mostly…Willow has an injured arm and a bit of a limp."

Giles looked at the girl in question waiting for her to say something.

"Angel threw Oz out of the window, I can't see him and he's not answering." Willow spoke remarkably calm given the situation.

Giles was not quite sure how to reply to that, "We'll check on him when we get outside." Giles bent down and picked Cordelia up, trying to support her head while he held her in his arms. "Where's Angel."

Buffy and Willow both looked to a shattered window, their point clear even before Buffy answered. "Something pushed him out of the window."

Both girls looked at him imploringly, hoping for an insightful comment to explain the night. Unfortunately Giles was just as lost for words as they were.

"Buffy, help Willow and stay close."

They started to walk down the staircase they had been approaching earlier. Half way down they could clearly make out the front foyer below and they could hear a banging on the door and Oz calling for them on the other side.

Buffy turned to Willow and saw a smile lighting up her friends face before it quickly fell as everything else caught up with her again.

Buffy hugged her friend tight as she desperately wished that this was all a bad dream.

Unable to hear what Oz was saying they kept walking to the door, Buffy moving ahead of the group and opening the door to reveal a mildly flustered Oz and a weary Angel. Angel was nervously looking over his shoulder at the horizon. Still standing inside the doorway Buffy looked past them and could see the pre dawn light turning the horizon purple.

"What…?" She queried.

Seeing what Buffy was questioning Oz quickly explained, "Time was warped. You have to get Xander."

Willow stepped around Buffy quickly moving through the door so she could hug her boyfriend. As soon as she moved outside the house she noticed the pain of her injuries disappear instantly.

"What…Why?" Buffy questioned again as Giles moved past her out the door, moving to place Cordelia on the floor, checking her head even though he noticed she had started to awaken.

"It's gone, the pain." Willow said wondrously.

"All our injuries have healed." Oz explained to Buffy.

Realisation of the implication came to her and she started to back away from the door, back into the house.

Giles had moved to join the conversation and noticed his Slayer's intentions, "Buffy it is almost dawn. We will come back tonight."

"No! I have to find him."

"Buffy…" Giles moved to go through the door but it slammed in front of him. "Damn!"

Angel went to attempt to force the door open but was stopped by Giles who remarked coldly, "Get in the van."

"I want to help." Angel replied not to be cowed.

"The sun is coming up Angel, just get in the van." Giles said resignedly, before turning back to the door.

"Will she be okay?" Willow asked quietly.

"I don't believe McKinley aims to harm her, but…" The comment left hanging.

TBC…


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note : Hmm, 'Polly want a cracker?"

**Chapter 15**

Moving back as the door slammed shut in front of her, Buffy turned back into the gloomy house, the lights had come back on but only part way, lighting the house in a dim glow. While she was wondering where to start, her decision was made for her when she noticed a familiar figure lying on the floor at the foot of the staircase.

Buffy approached the foot of the staircase cautiously looking around the foyer for any sign of the spirit that inhabited the house. As she approached the body of her friend however her feelings went from apprehension to disheartenment. At the foot of the staircase lay the body of one of her best friends, blood covering his torso from his earlier injuries. Shaking herself out of her reverie she grabbed his hands and preceded to drag him towards the door, surreptitiously ignoring the trail, his blood drenched clothes left behind. All she had to do was get him outside and he should be okay, at least that was what they hoped.

The wind started to pick up, blowing dust around and flicking her hair into her face. It was not until she was almost at the door that it stopped and a voice called from across the room.

"I guess its kind of pathetic now isn't it"

Buffy stopped and looked up, noticing for the first time that the lights had come back on and that there was now a man standing at the foot of the stairs were Xander had been just a minute before.

"Huh?" To surprised and not caring to form much more of a question.

"This…" He remarked gesturing around him, "The wind, the foreboding menace, I mean I don't need it anymore, you all basically know the deal more or less."

Buffy looked closely at the man, her task momentarily forgotten. He looked to be a man in his mid thirties, blond hair, a soft smile…the picture in the library, "You're Michael McKinley?" Her enquiry was half question and half statement.

"Yes Miss Summers I am, well at least a physical manifestation of the living spirit of the dead late Mr McKinley." He cocked his head in thought, "Did that make sense?" He asked looking at a now scowling Buffy.

"You, you did all this, you made Angel evil, got people injured…killed, I'd say that just makes you evil."

The spirit hung his head momentarily before looking back at her sadly, "I'm afraid it was necessary…After 54 years, you and your friends were probably my one chance for freedom. I did not mean for your friends to be hurt, but as you can see once you leave this house all those transgressions will be reversed."

"Tell that to the two slayers you killed. Where are their bodies?" Buffy spat in return, glowering anger at him, only to have him smile genuinely back at her.

"That is what bothers you? Worry not, they did not die here…they accepted my offer."

Still scowling and her voice filled with scathing Buffy rebuked, "You expect me to believe that. If they didn't die then why were new slayers called, huh?"

The spirit continued to smile, only now it had become a sad wistful smile, like someone awaiting their inevitable end. "Because the offer released them from their duty, that was what they wanted when they entered the house and I was obligated to provide it, as I am required to offer it to you now."

"What?" Her expression was warring between her anger and her confusion.

"You wish to be relieved of the duty of the slayer, to be able to be a normal girl and live a normal life…It seems to be the common thread among slayers, the two previous slayers wished the same."

Buffy's anger deflated as things became clearer in her mind. Her next question asked in a cautiously hopeful tone, "So you didn't kill them, they just walked out of here?"

The spirit nodded in response before explaining, "Yes, they were released from their duty and another slayer was called. They left to go and lead a normal life away from the Watcher's Council." The last two words came out as almost a growl.

The spirit regained his composure all emotion leaving his face before he asked the next question with the look of a man walking to his death with dignity. "Do you wish to be released from your duty?"

Buffy dropped Xander's arm with a dull thud as everything from the night started to click over. "Everything you've done, scaring Willow, drowning Xander, turning Angel, its all been a means to an end, trying to get a certain reaction, a belief…foreboding evil. Yet you have let two slayers go, given them a gift of freedom, a gift you now offer to me…" She wanted to pace, to do something other then just stand there. Ignoring Giles calling from outside she continued to think out loud, trying to figure out what her subconscious was trying to get across.

"You said 54 years, you've been here since the Hell's Gate key was put in here. You died here and you're stuck here…you offer people exactly what they want and they say yes…only Willow said no and I bet everyone else did too. All these incidents would make us want to say no, not trust you." She looked directly at him as the realisation crossed her features. "Cause you need us to say no, don't you, that is how we can free you."

Michael McKinley deceased looked at her sadly, though glad she had figured out what he would never be able to tell her, "So Miss Summers, do you wish to be free of your destiny?"

Buffy continued to look at him as she seriously thought about that question; what it meant to her to be a slayer, what it had done to her life. Would she be able to give that up? Could she look the other way to all the evil in the world? What of the impact on the lives of those around her, especially the impact on the spirit of the man in front of her? Could she just turn her back on him and her friends?

A smile crossed the slayer's face as she came to her conclusion, "No, I don't think I do, I may not be happy about being the chosen one, but it is my duty, something that has become part of who I am. I think if I gave that up I wouldn't be Buffy Summers anymore, so thankyou Mr McKinley, but no thanks, you can keep your offer."

The spirit gave a full-fledged smile in return, "No Miss Summers, thankyou and your friends." With that he turned to ascend the stairs and the house forever.

"What if someone evil came in wanting…well something evil, would you have to give it to them?"

The spirit stopped and turned to her, "Yes I would…but I would not have to let them leave the house."

Buffy nodded in understanding before turning to open the front door but stopped when McKinley's voice called out to her, "And Buffy…" He waited until Buffy turned back to him, "…Giles cares very much for you, don't hold his duties against him, he dislikes the council as much as you or I…"

Buffy nodded in response and turned back to the door, still hearing his final comment, before the house became silent and all the lights again went off.

"…Have a happy 18th birthday Buffy."

* * *

The door swang open in front of Giles, revealing a weary looking Buffy, much to the Watcher's relief.

Buffy pulled Xander through the door, pulling him in front of where the other three stood and the fully conscious Cordelia sat. They gave her a questioning look, "McKinley said he should be okay."

"Can we trust him?" Cordelia asked cautiously as she moved toward her boyfriend.

Her answer came in the form of a groan from Xander, "Next time someone else plays crash test dummy."

He was met with crushing hugs from both Willow and Cordelia.

"Perhaps I should try this more often…Ow!" The last elicited as he received two hard punches for the comment.

Smiling at her friends, glad they were all alive, Buffy turned to her watcher who looked lost in thought. "Giles." As he turned to her she asked, "How did all this happen?"

The question captured everyone else's attention as they too were awaiting a response, except for Xander who frowned at the question.

"I think perhaps it may be best if we head back to Sunnydale and discuss it there. I was led to believe Xander was given a full account of the details"

"Yeah, its an enchanting yarn." Xander added his tone glum as he ignored the looks of surprise from the others.

Xander was directed to the back of the van, by order of the group to rest, while the rest of the group collected the gear that had somehow been moved to the front porch of the house during the night and started to pack it in the van and Giles' car.

Climbing into the back of the van, Xander immediately noticed the brooding figure in the corner trying to stay clear of the rising sun's rays. Xander turned back to the door to assist in the loading only to have his hand slapped by Buffy as a warning for him to sit down and rest. Xander surprised the Slayer by doing just that and not making one complaint about the company. Xander knew why they had sent him to the van and not Giles' car.

Xander sat in the quiet van listening to the sounds of the rest of the group moving around outside and discussing something, probably travel arrangements, he could hear Cordelia bickering with Giles. He could feel Angel's stare on him and he turned to look at the vampire.

The vampire looked morose, like someone had contaminated all his good blood supply with Holy water and he was left with only vermin blood. "Xander…" Angel spoke apprehensively almost glad when he was interrupted.

"Angel…" The voice was tired and weary and Xander actually stopped to think about what he was going to say, aware of the fact that given his tiredness he would be hard pressed to make sense.

Xander continued in the same weary voice, "We're not friends, in fact I doubt we ever will be, but what happened in there, I know you feel guilty…At least I hope you feel guilty."

The weariness gave way, as Xander seemed to contemplate the idea and perked up when he queried, "You're not filled with glee are you? Cause if you are, I want to rethink my next comment."

Angel could not help it and smirked at the comment, before putting on his best broody and guilt ridden face and shaking his head.

"Ah, good." Xander seemed hesitant before continuing, "I may hate…dislike you for a lot of other things, but what happened in that house was beyond your control and it needed to happen, sort of. I just want you to know that I won't hold what happened in that place against you."

Angel was taken by surprise, not quite sure how to respond before deciding the simplest answer was the best, "Thank you."

Oz and Willow getting into the front of the van cut off any further discussion on the point.

"Are you okay Xander? Do you want to swap?" Willow asked immediately.

"Nah, I'm good Will."

TBC… And all will be explained


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Notes: I'll leave it till the epilogue**

**Chapter 16**

The group filed into Giles apartment, all except Angel who had requested to be dropped off at his mansion, Buffy suspected it would be a few days before she saw him again.

Cordelia headed straight for the bathroom, determined to clean off some of the dried blood that covered her face and had matted her hair. Giles headed upstairs to his room to get a clean sweater for Xander, the bloody shirt he wore currently was an unwelcome reminder of how the night may have ended.

Xander and Buffy headed straight for the couch while Willow and Oz decided to share an over sized armchair.

Giles came back down the stairs and passed the sweater to a grateful Xander, before proclaiming, "I'll brew some tea."

Noting everyone looking at him, the long night evident on their faces, Giles quickly reviewed his statement. "Sorry force of habit. Coffee perhaps?"

The eager nodding from the teenagers clearly indicated that was the better suggestion.

A few minutes passed in silence before Cordelia entered the room and sat her self down in between the less bloodied Xander and Buffy on the couch, looking almost like her usual impeccable self.

"Xander, perhaps you would like to start your story." Giles called thorough from the kitchen.

Xander looked over towards Giles in surprise before turning back to the other, "There's not that much to tell really, except…Buffy do not trust the Watcher's Council…Ever!"

Xander looked to the watcher again, "Sorry Giles, but what those guys did. That was why McKinley killed that Watcher, Rutherford." Xander fell quiet momentarily.

"Why didn't he go for Giles then?" Willow queried, before looking apologetic as she realised she may have interrupted Xander.

Xander took a steadying breath before starting, "The other Watcher, Rutherford, he was in the house for a couple of weeks before McKinley finally got control of the situation and decided he was going to have revenge."

Xander again stopped momentarily as he considered how to continue, "It wasn't until Rutherford died that McKinley discovered Rutherford had, had no idea what he had done. Rutherford was effectively set up by some people in the Watcher's Council to play a part in McKinley's demise. McKinley realised what had happened, so when the Council sent more people he stopped them from even entering the house."

"Because of the curse?" Buffy queried, jarring the others out of their reverie, from listening to the tale.

Xander looked at her surprised, while the others, barring Giles, just looked on in confusion.

Noticing Xander's expression, Buffy quickly explained. "He told me some of it before we left."

Xander nodded, finally replying to her question, "Yeah, he would have had to deal with them all."

Willow put her hand up out of habit, "Umm, what curse?"

Xander continued, eager to get the story over and done with, "McKinley had been sent to the house by the Council to put up wards, such that the artefact could be stored there. A few of the watchers including one called Whitby disagreed with the Council's decision, they wanted the artefact destroyed. Whitby took on the challenge of destroying the artefact without the deed being discovered. He took up the project to move the artefact to the house and planned it such that the house would become unliveable, that way nobody would ever find out that the artefact was not in the house."

"And it worked." Oz stated, thinking about how the house had been more or less left alone over the last five decades.

"Mostly, the Council still sent two slayers. That by the way is why he mostly left Giles alone, he knew Giles was different, because he went along with his slayer. It showed Giles cared about her above himself."

Buffy turned to Giles, who was entering the room with the coffees and smiled at him.

The sentiment was missed by the others in the group as Oz continued the line of questioning, "Why the questions?"

Xander looked momentarily confused before realising what Oz was talking about, "It was part of the curse. Kind of like a Genie in a bottle, as soon as you entered the house you're greatest desire or wish was made known to him and he was obliged to provide it. The only way for the curse to be broken was for all those who entered at one time to reject the offer"

"What about the two slayers?" Willow asked softly, not sure she wanted the answer.

The question brought a pained look to Xander's face "He couldn't tell anyone about the curse, the curse prevented it and the two slayers took the only opportunity for life they could get. McKinley never begrudged them that, it was the Watcher Council he wanted. They were the root of the curse."

"Whitby knew what he was doing with the curse, human want is very powerful and most are not likely to reject it." Giles interjected.

Xander nodded in response to Giles' comment before continuing, "So when we went in, McKinley saw a chance to be finally free…he just needed to manipulate the situation a little."

The group sat and thought in silence, before Cordelia turned to her boyfriend and asked, "So he told you all of this?"

"Only some of it, he showed me the rest, what Rutherford had seen and what McKinley saw after his death. It was weird, but he needed to show someone and he felt sorry for getting me killed...And ruining a perfectly good shirt" The last part said with a smile to his girlfriend, who only rolled her eyes in response.

"If you're okay, does that mean we should find that Rutherford guy?" Willow asked, her features worried at the idea.

Xander shook his head, "No, he passed on decades ago, he just stayed around long enough to tell McKinley what he knew and then just disappeared."

"Oh."

"So we all went in there for the key, but none of us actually wanted it." Buffy surmised

"Indeed, our desires were far removed from the search." Giles confirmed.

"And we all said no." Xander added quietly.

"Okay, so mine was freedom and Willow you said something about magical power." Buffy commented, looking to her friend.

"Yeah, full magical ability. Oz?" Willow looked to her boyfriend, curious to see if his wish was what she expected it to be.

"Control of the werewolf." Oz confirmed Willow's suspicion.

Willow hugged him, knowing how hard it was for him to not accept.

They all looked to Xander and Cordelia on the couch, Xander frowned not eager to share and even Cordelia looked self conscious.

"A power, something to help you guys." Xander finally elucidated.

Willow smiled encouragingly at him, while Buffy looked sad at the revelation.

All attention turned to Cordelia, who still did not look her usual confident self.

"Apparently I still miss my popularity." Cordelia explained.

Xander squeezed her hand to reassure her as did Buffy who could fully understand the sentiment.

"What about you Giles?" Buffy queried of her watcher.

Giles looked even less eager to share, "Let's just say the sentiment was similar."

"What sentiment was that?"

"Power, power to be in control of ourselves and the environment around us, something McKinley himself could not have until others were willing to forego their own." Giles explained.

Buffy seemed to perk at the comment, "So we did good?"

Giles' reply was solemn, "Indeed."

"Go us." Willow chirped with false cheer.

"Yeah go us." Xander reiterated solemnly.

TBC...


	17. Epilogue

Author's Notes: Lucky last, hope you all enjoyed the story. 

Epilogue

**1944 – Barnstead Manor**

"So how is Mr McKinley coming along Mr Rutherford?" The elder watcher asked of his younger counterpart whom was descending the stairs into the front foyer.

"Fine as far as I can tell, he said he had put all but the last ward in, something about moving rooms." Rutherford replied nonchalantly, bored by the milk run he had been sent on.

"Good to know, now Mr Rutherford do you care to help me to put the final ward in." The older man queried.

Rutherford looked down at the ceremonial circle that had been drawn onto the floor in his absence. It contained a small pile of objects in the middle and was surrounded by other miscellaneous magic bits that he had no idea about. He looked back up at his superior Milton Whitby, "No disrespect sir, but I cannot see why we do not just use the Hell's Gate key, close the Sunnydale Hellmouth and all the potential hellmouths and be done with it. We know Hitler has his occult hunters trying to find the key, among other unsavoury characters be they human or demon, though those definitions seem to be indistinguishable these days. Even with all these wards surely that would be the safest avenue."

His superior gave a rather unnerving smile before handing Rutherford a small glass bottle. "That would be nice Mr Rutherford but unfortunately you do not seem to realise that this universe of ours is based on balance. If we were to do something like that it would tips the scales in our favour and the cosmic backlash to even those scales could very well be something far worse then a few half dormant hell mouths. This here is a measure that I believe will keep the key perfectly safe for eternity, all you need do is simply throw the contents into circle when I finish speaking." After receiving a strained nod he added arrogantly, "Oh and Mr Rutherford, do not step inside the circle, I do not believe you would like the outcome."

Rutherford grimaced, he was really not a fan of magic and did not appreciate coming all the way to America in the middle of a major war to put a dangerous object which had the ability to destroy humanity into a house in the middle of nowhere with only some spells to protect it, much less have to put up with this pompous idiot and his pathetic assistant as well.

Ignoring the younger watcher, Whitby turned to his assistant who was working in the corner of the room screwing a plaque into the wall, "Mr Travers have you finished."

"Yes sir." The other man replied, stepping back to admire his handy work, impressed that he had managed to secure the plaque so it was straight, and to think he only got a bare pass in tech at school. He headed to the middle of the foyer to join the other two near the circle.

Whitby handed the approaching Travers a small bottle before pulling a leather bound book from a satchel on the floor. Opening it to the book-marked page he then proceeded to chant a passage from the book, ignoring the swirling wind and lights from inside the circle that followed.

Rutherford tried to pay attention to what was being spoken to try and figure out what the point of this was, but as far he could figure the language was in an ancient Norse tongue and was not having much luck, his specialty was Gaelic and Ancient Mediterranean languages. Seeing the swirling lights and wind though indicated it must be rather powerful and really could not see why they were using a spell caster if Whitby had this kind of power.

Whitby finished the final part of his incantation and followed this by throwing a glass container into the middle causing it to smash and add a colourful blue swirl into the already swirling wind and lights. Rutherford and Travers threw theirs next adding two more colours to the swirl making it grow in intensity until it suddenly stopped, dissipating into the room.

Rutherford started coughing as some of the coloured dust got into his nose and mouth. "Right, well now that we are done, should I go find Mr McKinley." Rutherford asked roughly, his patience having been sorely tested the last few days.

"No need to bother Mr Rutherford, he should be down shortly. Why don't you go outside and get the car running, we should be outside shortly." Whitby replied smiling.

"Fine." Rutherford replied curtly, still trying to get the taste of the coloured dust out of his mouth as he left the house, carrying what few bags they had brought with them.

Waiting until he had left Whitby and Travers waited near the circle before moving to the corner of the room where Travers had been working.

"Nice, I think that should suffice." Whitby remarked cheerily to Travers who was now starting to look a little apprehensive, something that Whitby noticed. "Don't worry so much boy, this had to be done for the sake of us all. Now all we have to do is be sure of the fate of the key." The final comment made as he pulled a wrapped up object out of his jacket pocket.

Travers watched as Whitby unwrapped the softly glowing object, the Hell's Gate key, the key that was to have been placed in a room in the house so it could be protected. Both men looked at it briefly taking in its mundane beauty that underscored its abilities before Whitby simply let go, letting it crash to the floor, where upon it shattered into nothing more then dust.

"Rather fragile for something quite so dangerous, no?" Whitby queried, smiling, before walking away to the door leaving Travers near the now destroyed artefact.

Travers looked down at the ground at the remains of the key before looking back at the plaque, 'Michael McKinley, 1911-1944, Humanitarian'. Such a quaint way to say he died for the sake of humanity, at least Whitby thought so; Travers just hoped it was all worth it. Sure a better solution could have been found, he left the house, locking the door behind him and leaving the key on top of the door frame before moving to the nearby car. Glad to be finally going home to his wife and their new born son.

Rutherford walked out of the house into the balmy Californian night; dusk had just fallen and with the darkness came some relief from the warm summer's day. Luckily the lights from inside of the house lit the front area of the house with their glow making his approach to the car easy as he fumbled in his jacket pockets for the key. He eventually found them and opened up the car putting the bags into the boot he then got into the drivers seat and proceeded to start the engine. Now all he had to do was wait for the other three to finish.

Within minutes Whitby walked out of the house looking smug as usual and approached the car at a slow gait. Halfway to the car he stopped and turned, having heard Travers at the door he decided to wait for him. The younger man quickly caught up and they both moved to the car, both men getting into the back seat.

"Let us leave Mr Rutherford." Whitby remarked when the car did not drive off immediately.

"What about McKinley?" Rutherford asked turning around to the men in the back seat, he had been at least expecting to wait until everyone was ready to leave.

"No need to worry about him, he is just staying behind for a while to make sure the wards are secure, he has his own plans, no need for us to wait." Whitby remarked ardently.

Rutherford noticed a strange look pass Traver's face before turning back around, putting the car into gear and driving towards the estate's front gate.

"So the artefact is safe then?" Rutherford queried.

"As safe as houses Mr Rutherford, as safe as houses"

**The End**

* * *

Okay folks, hope you enjoyed the story, I still might rewrite some parts of it yet so if you have any suggestions on places for improvement, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I have a few other stories to go on with, most set in the second and third season, but I do have a brief outline for a story to be set post season 7 which flits between a few years in the future to 15 years in the future, where a new more dangerous evil has started to materialise. So if you have any preferences which you would like to see first, please let me know.

Anyway thanks for reading and thanks for your kind reviews.


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